Open-Source Highly Parallel Electromagnetic Simulations for Superconducting Circuits

TL;DR

SQDMetal is an open-source, highly parallel simulation framework that integrates multiple tools for accurate, scalable modeling of superconducting quantum circuits, validated against commercial software and experimental data.

Contribution

This work introduces SQDMetal, a novel open-source Python API that unifies existing tools into a high-performance, scalable simulation workflow for superconducting quantum devices.

Findings

SQDMetal shows excellent agreement with COMSOL and Ansys in benchmark tests.

Simulations of resonators and qubits align well with experimental results.

Supports advanced features like Hamiltonian extraction and 3D device modeling.

Abstract

Electromagnetic simulations form an indispensable part of the design and optimization process for superconducting quantum devices. Although several commercial platforms exist, open-source alternatives optimized for high-performance computing remain limited. To address this gap, we introduce SQDMetal, a Python-based API that integrates Qiskit Metal (IBM), Gmsh, Palace (AWS), and Paraview (Kitware) into an open-source, highly parallel simulation workflow for superconducting quantum circuits. SQDMetal enables accurate, efficient, and scalable simulations while remaining community-driven and free from commercial constraints. In this work, we validate SQDMetal through mesh convergence studies which benchmark SQDMetal against COMSOL Multiphysics and Ansys, demonstrating excellent agreement for both eigenmode and electrostatic (capacitance) simulations. Furthermore, we simulate superconducting resonators and transmon qubits, showing reasonable agreement with experimental measurements. SQDMetal also supports advanced capabilities, including Hamiltonian extraction via the energy participation ratio (EPR) method, incorporation of kinetic inductance effects, and full 3D modelling of device geometry for improved predictive accuracy. By unifying open-source tools into a single framework, SQDMetal lowers the barriers to entry for community members seeking to access high-performance simulations to assist in the design and optimization of their devices.