arXiv subjects

J. C. C. Hwang

Publications and source records attributed to J. C. C. Hwang.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

Silicon qubit fidelities approaching incoherent noise limits via pulse engineering

The performance requirements for fault-tolerant quantum computing are very stringent. Qubits must be manipulated, coupled, and measured with error rates well below 1%. For semiconductor implementations, silicon quantum dot spin qubits have demonstrated average single-qubit Clifford gate error rates that approach this threshold, notably with error rates of 0.14% in isotopically enriched $^{28}$Si/SiGe devices. This gate performance, together with high-fidelity two-qubit gates and measurements, is only known to meet the threshold for fault-tolerant quantum computing in some architectures when assuming that the noise is incoherent, and still lower error rates are needed to reduce overhead. Here we experimentally show that pulse engineering techniques, widely used in magnetic resonance, improve average Clifford gate error rates for silicon quantum dot spin qubits to 0.043%,a factor of 3 improvement on previous best results for silicon quantum dot devices. By including tomographically complete measurements in randomised benchmarking, we infer a higher-order feature of the noise called the unitarity, which measures the coherence of noise. This in turn allows us to theoretically predict that average gate error rates as low as 0.026% may be achievable with further pulse improvements. These fidelities are ultimately limited by Markovian noise, which we attribute to charge noise emanating from the silicon device structure itself, or the environment.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Single-spin qubits in isotopically enriched silicon at low magnetic field

Single-electron spin qubits employ magnetic fields on the order of 1 Tesla or above to enable quantum state readout via spin-dependent-tunnelling. This requires demanding microwave engineering for coherent spin resonance control and significant on-chip real estate for electron reservoirs, both of which limit the prospects for large scale multi-qubit systems. Alternatively, singlet-triplet (ST) readout enables high-fidelity spin-state measurements in much lower magnetic fields, without the need for reservoirs. Here, we demonstrate low-field operation of metal-oxide-silicon (MOS) quantum dot qubits by combining coherent single-spin control with high-fidelity, single-shot, Pauli-spin-blockade-based ST readout. We discover that the qubits decohere faster at low magnetic fields with $T_{2}^{Rabi}=18.6$~$μ$s and $T_2^*=1.4$~$μ$s at 150~mT. Their coherence is limited by spin flips of residual $^{29}$Si nuclei in the isotopically enriched $^{28}$Si host material, which occur more frequently at lower fields. Our finding indicates that new trade-offs will be required to ensure the frequency stabilization of spin qubits and highlights the importance of isotopic enrichment of device substrates for the realization of a scalable silicon-based quantum processor.

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arXiv2019

Silicon quantum processor unit cell operation above one Kelvin

Quantum computers are expected to outperform conventional computers for a range of important problems, from molecular simulation to search algorithms, once they can be scaled up to large numbers of quantum bits (qubits), typically millions. For most solid-state qubit technologies, e.g. those using superconducting circuits or semiconductor spins, scaling poses a significant challenge as every additional qubit increases the heat generated, while the cooling power of dilution refrigerators is severely limited at their operating temperature below 100 mK. Here we demonstrate operation of a scalable silicon quantum processor unit cell, comprising two qubits confined to quantum dots (QDs) at $\sim$1.5 Kelvin. We achieve this by isolating the QDs from the electron reservoir, initialising and reading the qubits solely via tunnelling of electrons between the two QDs. We coherently control the qubits using electrically-driven spin resonance (EDSR) in isotopically enriched silicon $^{28}$Si, attaining single-qubit gate fidelities of 98.6% and coherence time $T_2^*$ = 2$μ$s during `hot' operation, comparable to those of spin qubits in natural silicon at millikelvin temperatures. Furthermore, we show that the unit cell can be operated at magnetic fields as low as 0.1 T, corresponding to a qubit control frequency of 3.5 GHz, where the qubit energy is well below the thermal energy. The unit cell constitutes the core building block of a full-scale silicon quantum computer, and satisfies layout constraints required by error correction architectures. Our work indicates that a spin-based quantum computer could be operated at elevated temperatures in a simple pumped $^4$He system, offering orders of magnitude higher cooling power than dilution refrigerators, potentially enabling classical control electronics to be integrated with the qubit array.

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arXiv2019

Coherent spin control of s-, p-, d- and f-electrons in a silicon quantum dot

Once the periodic properties of elements were unveiled, chemical bonds could be understood in terms of the valence of atoms. Ideally, this rationale would extend to quantum dots, often termed artificial atoms, and quantum computation could be performed by merely controlling the outer-shell electrons of dot-based qubits. Imperfections in the semiconductor material, including at the atomic scale, disrupt this analogy between atoms and quantum dots, so that real devices seldom display such a systematic many-electron arrangement. We demonstrate here an electrostatically-defined quantum dot that is robust to disorder, revealing a well defined shell structure. We observe four shells (31 electrons) with multiplicities given by spin and valley degrees of freedom. We explore various fillings consisting of a single valence electron -- namely 1, 5, 13 and 25 electrons -- as potential qubits, and we identify fillings that yield a total spin-1 on the dot. An integrated micromagnet allows us to perform electrically-driven spin resonance (EDSR). Higher shell states are shown to be more susceptible to the driving field, leading to faster Rabi rotations of the qubit. We investigate the impact of orbital excitations of the p- and d-shell electrons on single qubits as a function of the dot deformation. This allows us to tune the dot excitation spectrum and exploit it for faster qubit control. Furthermore, hotspots arising from this tunable energy level structure provide a pathway towards fast spin initialisation. The observation of spin-1 states may be exploited in the future to study symmetry-protected topological states in antiferromagnetic spin chains and their application to quantum computing.

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arXiv2018

Fidelity benchmarks for two-qubit gates in silicon

Universal quantum computation will require qubit technology based on a scalable platform, together with quantum error correction protocols that place strict limits on the maximum infidelities for one- and two-qubit gate operations. While a variety of qubit systems have shown high fidelities at the one-qubit level, superconductor technologies have been the only solid-state qubits manufactured via standard lithographic techniques which have demonstrated two-qubit fidelities near the fault-tolerant threshold. Silicon-based quantum dot qubits are also amenable to large-scale manufacture and can achieve high single-qubit gate fidelities (exceeding 99.9%) using isotopically enriched silicon. However, while two-qubit gates have been demonstrated in silicon, it has not yet been possible to rigorously assess their fidelities using randomized benchmarking, since this requires sequences of significant numbers of qubit operations ($\gtrsim 20$) to be completed with non-vanishing fidelity. Here, for qubits encoded on the electron spin states of gate-defined quantum dots, we demonstrate Bell state tomography with fidelities ranging from 80% to 89%, and two-qubit randomized benchmarking with an average Clifford gate fidelity of 94.7% and average Controlled-ROT (CROT) fidelity of 98.0%. These fidelities are found to be limited by the relatively slow gate times employed here compared with the decoherence times $T_2^*$ of the qubits. Silicon qubit designs employing fast gate operations based on high Rabi frequencies, together with advanced pulsing techniques, should therefore enable significantly higher fidelities in the near future.

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arXiv2018

Assessment of a silicon quantum dot spin qubit environment via noise spectroscopy

Preserving coherence long enough to perform meaningful calculations is one of the major challenges on the pathway to large scale quantum computer implementations. Noise coupled from the environment is the main contributing factor to decoherence but can be mitigated via engineering design and control solutions. However, this is only possible after acquiring a thorough understanding of the dominant noise sources and their spectrum. In this paper, we employ a silicon quantum dot spin qubit as a metrological device to study the noise environment experienced by the qubit. We compare the sensitivity of this qubit to electrical noise with that of an implanted phosphorus donor in silicon qubit in the same environment and measurement set-up. Our results show that, as expected, a quantum dot spin qubit is more sensitive to electrical noise than a donor spin qubit due to the larger Stark shift, and the noise spectroscopy data shows pronounced charge noise contributions at intermediate frequencies (2-20 kHz).

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Interface induced spin-orbit interaction in silicon quantum dots and prospects for scalability

We identify the presence of monoatomic steps at the Si/SiGe or Si/SiO$_2$ interface as a dominant source of variations in the dephasing time of Si quantum dot (QD) spin qubits. First, using atomistc tight-binding calculations we show that the g-factors and their Stark shifts undergo variations due to these steps. We compare our theoretical predictions with experiments on QDs at a Si/SiO$_2$ interface, in which we observe significant differences in Stark shifts between QDs in two different samples. We also experimentally observe variations in the $g$-factors of one-electron and three-electron spin qubits realized in three neighboring QDs on the same sample, at a level consistent with our calculations. The dephasing times of these qubits also vary, most likely due to their varying sensitivity to charge noise, resulting from different interface conditions. More importantly, from our calculations we show that by employing the anisotropic nature of the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) in a Si QD, we can minimize and control these variations. Ultimately, we predict that the dephasing times of the Si QD spin qubits will be anisotropic and can be improved by at least an order of magnitude, by aligning the external DC magnetic field towards specific crystal directions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Impact of g-factors and valleys on spin qubits in a silicon double quantum dot

We define single electron spin qubits in a silicon MOS double quantum dot system. By mapping the qubit resonance frequency as a function of gate-induced electric field, the spectrum reveals an anticrossing that is consistent with an inter-valley spin-orbit coupling. We fit the data from which we extract an inter-valley coupling strength of 43 MHz. In addition, we observe a narrow resonance near the primary qubit resonance when we operate the device in the (1,1) charge configuration. The experimental data is consistent with a simulation involving two weakly exchanged-coupled spins with a g-factor difference of 1 MHz, of the same order as the Rabi frequency. We conclude that the narrow resonance is the result of driven transitions between the T- and T+ triplet states, using an ESR signal of frequency located halfway between the resonance frequencies of the two individual spins. The findings presented here offer an alternative method of implementing two-qubit gates, of relevance to the operation of larger scale spin qubit systems.

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arXiv2015

Spin-orbit coupling and operation of multi-valley spin qubits

Spin qubits composed of either one or three electrons are realized in a quantum dot formed at a Si/SiO_2-interface in isotopically enriched silicon. Using pulsed electron spin resonance, we perform coherent control of both types of qubits, addressing them via an electric field dependent g-factor. We perform randomized benchmarking and find that both qubits can be operated with high fidelity. Surprisingly, we find that the g-factors of the one-electron and three-electron qubits have an approximately linear but opposite dependence as a function of the applied dc electric field. We develop a theory to explain this g-factor behavior based on the spin-valley coupling that results from the sharp interface. The outer "shell" electron in the three-electron qubit exists in the higher of the two available conduction-band valley states, in contrast with the one-electron case, where the electron is in the lower valley. We formulate a modified effective mass theory and propose that inter-valley spin-flip tunneling dominates over intra-valley spin-flips in this system, leading to a direct correlation between the spin-orbit coupling parameters and the g-factors in the two valleys. In addition to offering all-electrical tuning for single-qubit gates, the g-factor physics revealed here for one-electron and three-electron qubits offers potential opportunities for new qubit control approaches.

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arXiv2014

A Two Qubit Logic Gate in Silicon

Quantum computation requires qubits that can be coupled and realized in a scalable manner, together with universal and high-fidelity one- and two-qubit logic gates \cite{DiVincenzo2000, Loss1998}. Strong effort across several fields have led to an impressive array of qubit realizations, including trapped ions \cite{Brown2011}, superconducting circuits \cite{Barends2014}, single photons\cite{Kok2007}, single defects or atoms in diamond \cite{Waldherr2014, Dolde2014} and silicon \cite{Muhonen2014}, and semiconductor quantum dots \cite{Veldhorst2014}, all with single qubit fidelities exceeding the stringent thresholds required for fault-tolerant quantum computing \cite{Fowler2012}. Despite this, high-fidelity two-qubit gates in the solid-state that can be manufactured using standard lithographic techniques have so far been limited to superconducting qubits \cite{Barends2014}, as semiconductor systems have suffered from difficulties in coupling qubits and dephasing \cite{Nowack2011, Brunner2011, Shulman2012}. Here, we show that these issues can be eliminated altogether using single spins in isotopically enriched silicon\cite{Itoh2014} by demonstrating single- and two-qubit operations in a quantum dot system using the exchange interaction, as envisaged in the original Loss-DiVincenzo proposal \cite{Loss1998}. We realize CNOT gates via either controlled rotation (CROT) or controlled phase (CZ) operations combined with single-qubit operations. Direct gate-voltage control provides single-qubit addressability, together with a switchable exchange interaction that is employed in the two-qubit CZ gate. The speed of the two-qubit CZ operations is controlled electrically via the detuning energy and we find that over 100 two-qubit gates can be performed within a two-qubit coherence time of 8 \textmu s, thereby satisfying the criteria required for scalable quantum computation.

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arXiv2014

An addressable quantum dot qubit with fault-tolerant control fidelity

Exciting progress towards spin-based quantum computing has recently been made with qubits realized using nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) centers in diamond and phosphorus atoms in silicon, including the demonstration of long coherence times made possible by the presence of spin-free isotopes of carbon and silicon. However, despite promising single-atom nanotechnologies, there remain substantial challenges in coupling such qubits and addressing them individually. Conversely, lithographically defined quantum dots have an exchange coupling that can be precisely engineered, but strong coupling to noise has severely limited their dephasing times and control fidelities. Here we combine the best aspects of both spin qubit schemes and demonstrate a gate-addressable quantum dot qubit in isotopically engineered silicon with a control fidelity of 99.6%, obtained via Clifford based randomized benchmarking and consistent with that required for fault-tolerant quantum computing. This qubit has orders of magnitude improved coherence times compared with other quantum dot qubits, with T_2* = 120 mus and T_2 = 28 ms. By gate-voltage tuning of the electron g*-factor, we can Stark shift the electron spin resonance (ESR) frequency by more than 3000 times the 2.4 kHz ESR linewidth, providing a direct path to large-scale arrays of addressable high-fidelity qubits that are compatible with existing manufacturing technologies.

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