Revealing the loss mechanisms of a 3D superconducting microwave cavity for use in a dark matter search

Esmenda, Joshoua and Laird, Edward and Bailey, Ian and Du, N and Durham, S. and Carosi, G. and Gamble, T. and Smith, P. and Daw, E. and Pashkin, Yuri (2025) Revealing the loss mechanisms of a 3D superconducting microwave cavity for use in a dark matter search. New Journal of Physics, 27 (10): 105005. ISSN 1367-2630

Abstract

Superconducting microwave cavities have found applications in many areas including quantum computing, particle accelerators, and dark matter searches. Their extremely high quality factors translate to very narrow bandwidth, which makes them key components of sensitive detectors. In this study, we aim to understand the loss mechanisms of an aluminium cavity, with a fundamental mode frequency of about 2.5123 GHz, and how they change as the cavity material transitions from the superconducting to normal state. We found that at temperatures not much lower than the transition temperature Tc, losses are dominated by quasiparticle excitations and are well described by the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer theory. The exponential decrease of the quasiparticle density below Tc results in a 1000-fold increase of the quality factor, as well as a shift of the resonance frequency due to the change of the kinetic inductance of the superconductor. At very low temperatures, losses due to two-level systems begin to dominate giving a peak in the quality factor of about 2.76×10^7 at 130 mK. Understanding the loss mechanisms is invaluable, as the working temperature of the cavity may vary during operation regardless of its application.