Characterization of Tunnel Diode Oscillator for Qubit Readout Applications

We developed a tunnel diode oscillator and characterized its performance, demonstrating its potential applications in the quantum state readout of electrons in semiconductors and electrons on liquid helium. This cryogenic microwave source demonstrates significant scalability potential for large-scale qubit readout systems due to its compact design and low-power consumption of only 1 µW, making it suitable for integration on the 10 mK stage of a dilution refrigerator. The tunnel diode oscillator exhibits superior amplitude stability compared to commercial microwave sources. The output frequency is centered around 140 MHz, commonly used for qubit readout of electrons in semiconductors, with a frequency tunability of 10 MHz achieved using a varactor diode. Furthermore, the phase noise was significantly improved by replacing the commercially available voltage source with a lead-acid battery, achieving a measured phase noise of \(-\)115 dBc/Hz at a 1 MHz offset.