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Gigahertz-frequency Lamb-wave resonator cavities on suspended lithium niobate for quantum acoustics

Michele Diego1,*,†, Hong Qiao2,†, Byunggi Kim1,3, Minseok Ryu2, Shiheng Li4, Gustav Andersson2,‡, Masahiro Nomura1,§, and Andrew N. Cleland2,∥

  • *Contact author: diego@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp
  • †These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • ‡Present address: IBM Quantum, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA.
  • §Contact author: nomura@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp
  • ∥Contact author: anc@uchicago.edu
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Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 014045 – Published 15 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/xt9r-h1q9

Abstract

Phononic nanodevices offer a promising route toward quantum technologies, as phonons combine strong confinement within matter with broad coupling capabilities to various quantum systems. In particular, the piezoelectric response of materials, such as lithium niobate, enables coupling between superconducting qubits and gigahertz-frequency phonons. However, bulk lithium niobate phononic devices typically rely on surface acoustic waves and are therefore inherently subject to leakage from the surface into the bulk substrate. Here, we explore the acoustic behavior of resonator cavities supporting GHz-frequency Lamb waves in a 200-nm-thick suspended lithium niobate layer. We characterize the acoustic response at both room and millikelvin temperatures. We find that our resonator cavities with strong confinement reach intrinsic quality factors of approximately 6000 at the single phonon level. We use the measured parameters of the resonators to model their coupling to a superconducting transmon qubit, allowing us to evaluate their potential as quantum acoustic devices.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 014045– Published 15 July, 2026
  • Received 21 January 2026
  • Accepted 22 June 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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