Real-Time MRI-Guided Catheter Tracking Using Hyperpolarized Silicon Particles

Visualizing the movement of angiocatheters during endovascular interventions is typically accomplished using x-ray fluoroscopy. There are many potential advantages to developing magnetic resonance imaging-based approaches that will allow three-dimensional imaging of the tissue/vasculature interface while monitoring other physiologically-relevant criteria, without exposing the patient or clinician team to ionizing radiation. Here we introduce a proof-of-concept development of a magnetic resonance imaging-guided catheter tracking method that utilizes hyperpolarized silicon particles. The increased signal of the silicon particles is generated via low-temperature, solid-state dynamic nuclear polarization, and the particles retain their enhanced signal for ?40?minutes—allowing imaging experiments over extended time durations. The particles are affixed to the tip of standard medical-grade catheters and are used to track passage under set distal and temporal points in phantoms and live mouse models. With continued development, this method has the potential to supplement x-ray fluoroscopy and other MRI-guided catheter tracking methods as a zero-background, positive contrast agent that does not require ionizing radiation.QN/Quantum NanoscienceApplied Science

Magnetic field compatible circuit quantum electrodynamics with graphene Josephson junctions

Circuit quantum electrodynamics has proven to be a powerful tool to probe mesoscopic effects in hybrid systems and is used in several quantum computing (QC) proposals that require a transmon qubit able to operate in strong magnetic fields. To address this we integrate monolayer graphene Josephson junctions into microwave frequency superconducting circuits to create graphene based transmons. Using dispersive microwave spectroscopy we resolve graphene's characteristic band dispersion and observe coherent electronic interference effects confirming the ballistic nature of our graphene Josephson junctions. We show that the monoatomic thickness of graphene renders the device insensitive to an applied magnetic field, allowing us to perform energy level spectroscopy of the circuit in a parallel magnetic field of 1 T, an order of magnitude higher than previous studies. These results establish graphene based superconducting circuits as a promising platform for QC and the study of mesoscopic quantum effects that appear in strong magnetic fields.QRD/Kouwenhoven LabQuTechApplied SciencesQRD/Goswami La

Magnetic-Field-Resilient Superconducting Coplanar-Waveguide Resonators for Hybrid Circuit Quantum Electrodynamics Experiments

Superconducting coplanar-waveguide resonators that can operate in strong magnetic fields are important tools for a variety of high-frequency superconducting devices. Magnetic fields degrade resonator performance by creating Abrikosov vortices that cause resistive losses and frequency fluctuations or suppress the superconductivity entirely. To mitigate these effects, we investigate lithographically defined artificial defects in resonators fabricated from Nb-Ti-N superconducting films. We show that by controlling the vortex dynamics, the quality factor of resonators in perpendicular magnetic fields can be greatly enhanced. Coupled with the restriction of the device geometry to enhance the superconductors critical field, we demonstrate stable resonances that retain quality factors ≃105 at the single-photon power level in perpendicular magnetic fields up to B⊥ ≃20mT and parallel magnetic fields up to B⥠≃6T. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique for hybrid systems by integrating an In-Sb nanowire into a field-resilient superconducting resonator and use it to perform fast charge readout of a gate-defined double quantum dot at B=1T.QRD/Kouwenhoven LabQuTechApplied SciencesBUS/GeneralQCD/DiCarlo LabQN/Kouwenhoven La

Ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires

Semiconductor nanowires have opened new research avenues in quantum transport owing to their confined geometry and electrostatic tunability. They have offered an exceptional testbed for superconductivity, leading to the realization of hybrid systems combining the macroscopic quantum properties of superconductors with the possibility to control charges down to a single electron. These advances brought semiconductor nanowires to the forefront of efforts to realize topological superconductivity and Majorana modes. A prime challenge to benefit from the topological properties of Majoranas is to reduce the disorder in hybrid nanowire devices. Here we show ballistic superconductivity in InSb semiconductor nanowires. Our structural and chemical analyses demonstrate a high-quality interface between the nanowire and a NbTiN superconductor that enables ballistic transport. This is manifested by a quantized conductance for normal carriers, a strongly enhanced conductance for Andreev-reflecting carriers, and an induced hard gap with a significantly reduced density of states. These results pave the way for disorder-free Majorana devices.QRD/Kouwenhoven LabQN/Conesa-Boj LabQRD/Wimmer LabQubit Research DivisionQN/Bakkers LabBUS/GeneralQRD/Goswami La