Cleaner Superconductors, Coherent Qubits: Tantalum’s Interface Matters
New research reveals a direct link between the quality of superconducting tantalum films and their performance in quantum circuits, demonstrating that interface engineering can dramatically reduce energy loss.

![Work extraction protocols demonstrate that energy stored within the harmonic degree of freedom can be successfully harvested; single-well potential experiments show accumulated normalized work [latex]W/\bar{V}_{m}(0)[/latex] remains below unity despite peaking at [latex]\delta t = 1\,\text{s}[/latex], while a double-well potential facilitates work extraction exceeding [latex]V̄_{m}(0)[/latex] following barrier crossing, confirming energy retrieval from the system.](https://arxiv.org/html/2603.06160v1/x4.png)
![The system explores a layered structure of [latex]N[/latex] clean layers, interconnected by random tensors that indiscriminately couple modes within each layer, then replicates this [latex]N[/latex]-layer system across [latex]R[/latex] independent replicas to probe the limits of theoretical constructs.](https://arxiv.org/html/2603.06202v1/x8.png)
![The observed pole masses and widths of the [latex]T_{c\bar{c}}(4020)[/latex] and [latex]T_{c\bar{c}}(4025)[/latex] states, derived from analyses of [latex]e^{+}e^{-}\to\pi\pi h_{c}[/latex] and [latex]D^{<i>}\bar{D}^{</i>}\pi[/latex] processes, offer critical parameters for validating theoretical predictions detailed in Physical Review Letters and probing the underlying structure of these exotic hadrons.](https://arxiv.org/html/2603.05564v1/x1.png)