arXiv subjects

S. N. Coppersmith

Publications and source records attributed to S. N. Coppersmith.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Strong electron-electron interactions in Si/SiGe quantum dots

Interactions between electrons can strongly affect the shape and functionality of multi-electron quantum dots. The resulting charge distributions can be localized, as in the case of Wigner molecules, with consequences for the energy spectrum and tunneling to states outside the dot. The situation is even more complicated for silicon dots, due to the interplay between valley, orbital, and interaction energy scales. Here, we study two-electron wavefunctions in electrostatically confined quantum dots formed in a SiGe/Si/SiGe quantum well at zero magnetic field, using a combination of tight-binding and full-configuration-interaction (FCI) methods, and taking into account atomic-scale disorder at the quantum well interface. We model dots based on recent qubit experiments, which straddle the boundary between strongly interacting and weakly interacting systems, and display a rich and diverse range of behaviors. Our calculations show that strong electron-electron interactions, induced by weak confinement, can significantly suppress the low-lying, singlet-triplet (ST) excitation energy. However, when the valley-orbit interactions caused by interfacial disorder are weak, the ST splitting can approach its noninteracting value, even when the electron-electron interactions are strong and Wigner-molecule behavior is observed. These results have important implications for the rational design and fabrication of quantum dot qubits with predictable properties.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Charge-noise resilience of two-electron quantum dots in Si/SiGe heterostructures

The valley degree of freedom presents challenges and opportunities for silicon spin qubits. An important consideration for singlet-triplet states is the presence of two distinct triplets, comprised of valley vs. orbital excitations. Here we show that both of these triplets are present in the typical operating regime, but that only the valley-excited triplet offers intrinsic protection against charge noise. We further show that this protection arises naturally in dots with stronger confinement. These results reveal an inherent advantage for silicon-based multi-electron qubits.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Valley splittings in Si/SiGe quantum dots with a germanium spike in the silicon well

Silicon-germanium heterostructures have successfully hosted quantum dot qubits, but the intrinsic near-degeneracy of the two lowest valley states poses an obstacle to high fidelity quantum computing. We present a modification to the Si/SiGe heterostructure by the inclusion of a spike in germanium concentration within the quantum well in order to increase the valley splitting. The heterostructure is grown by chemical vapor deposition and magnetospectroscopy is performed on gate-defined quantum dots to measure the excited state spectrum. We demonstrate a large and widely tunable valley splitting as a function of applied vertical electric field and lateral dot confinement. We further investigate the role of the germanium spike by means of tight-binding simulations in single-electron dots and show a robust doubling of the valley splitting when the spike is present, as compared to a standard (spike-free) heterostructure. This doubling effect is nearly independent of the electric field, germanium content of the spike, and spike location. This experimental evidence of a stable, tunable quantum dot, despite a drastic change to the heterostructure, provides a foundation for future heterostructure modifications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Theory of Hole-Spin Qubits in Strained Germanium Quantum Dots

We theoretically investigate the properties of holes in a Si$_{x}$Ge$_{1-x}$/Ge/ Si$_{x}$Ge$_{1-x}$ quantum well in a perpendicular magnetic field that make them advantageous as qubits, including a large ($>$100~meV) intrinsic splitting between the light and heavy hole bands, a very light ($\sim$0.05$\, m_0$) in-plane effective mass, consistent with higher mobilities and tunnel rates, and larger dot sizes that could ameliorate constraints on device fabrication. Compared to electrons in quantum dots, hole qubits do not suffer from the presence of nearby quantum levels (e.g., valley states) that can compete with spins as qubits. The strong spin-orbit coupling in Ge quantum wells may be harnessed to implement electric-dipole spin resonance, leading to gate times of several nanoseconds for single-qubit rotations. The microscopic mechanism of this spin-orbit coupling is discussed, along with its implications for quantum gates based on electric-dipole spin resonance, stressing the importance of coupling terms that arise from the underlying cubic crystal field. Our results provide a theoretical foundation for recent experimental advances in Ge hole-spin qubits.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Coherent control and spectroscopy of a semiconductor quantum dot Wigner molecule

Multi-electron semiconductor quantum dots have found wide application in qubits, where they enable readout and enhance polarizability. However, coherent control in such dots has typically been restricted to only the lowest two levels, and such control in the strongly interacting regime has not been realized. Here we report quantum control of eight different resonances in a silicon-based quantum dot. We use qubit readout to perform spectroscopy, revealing a dense set of energy levels with characteristic spacing far smaller than the single-particle energy. By comparing with full configuration interaction calculations, we argue that the dense set of levels arises from Wigner-molecule physics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Fabrication process and failure analysis for robust quantum dots in silicon

We present an improved fabrication process for overlapping aluminum gate quantum dot devices on Si/SiGe heterostructures that incorporates low-temperature inter-gate oxidation, thermal annealing of gate oxide, on-chip electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, and an optimized interconnect process for thermal budget considerations. This process reduces gate-to-gate leakage, damage from ESD, dewetting of aluminum, and formation of undesired alloys in device interconnects. Additionally, cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images elucidate gate electrode morphology in the active region as device geometry is varied. We show that overlapping aluminum gate layers homogeneously conform to the topology beneath them, independent of gate geometry, and identify critical dimensions in the gate geometry where pattern transfer becomes non-ideal, causing device failure.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

The effect of external electric fields on silicon with superconducting gallium nano-precipitates

Motivated by potential transformative applications of nanoelectronic circuits that incorporate superconducting elements, and by the advantages of integrating these elements in a silicon materials platform, we investigate the properties of the superconductivity of silicon ion-implanted with gallium. Here we measure 40 different samples and explore both a variety of preparation methods (yielding both superconducting and non-superconducting samples), and the reproducibility of one of the preparation methods yielding superconducting samples. While we find agreement with the existing literature that superconducting effects are visible in this system, we also find that this superconductivity is not influenced by voltages applied to a top gate. The superconductivity in this materials system is not gateable for applied electric fields as large as 8 MV/cm. We also present results of scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging of some of the same samples for which we report electronic characterization. In agreement with the existing literature, we find that the presence of Ga precipitates is essential to the presence of a superconducting transition in these samples. However, we also find evidence for large inhomogeneities in this system, which we discuss in connection with the lack of gateability we report here.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

Microwave Engineering for Semiconductor Quantum Dots in a cQED Architecture

We develop an engineered microwave environment for coupling high Q superconducting resonators to quantum dots using a multilayer fabrication stack for the dot control wiring. Analytic and numerical models are presented to understand how parasitic capacitive coupling to the dot bias leads can result in microwave energy leakage and low resonator quality factors. We show that by controlling the characteristic impedance of the dot bias wiring, on-chip quality factors of 8140 can be attained without the addition of explicit filtering. Using this approach we demonstrate single electron occupation in double and triple dots detected via dipole or quadrupole coupling to a superconducting resonator. Additionally, by using multilayer fabrication we are able to improve ground plane integrity and keep microwave crosstalk below -20 dB out to 18 GHz while maintaining high wire density which will be necessary for future circuit quantum electrodyanmics (cQED) quantum dot processors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Lifting of Spin Blockade by Charged Impurities in Si-MOS Double Quantum Dot Devices

One obstacle that has slowed the development of electrically gated metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) singlet-triplet qubits is the frequent lack of observed spin blockade, even in samples with large singlet-triplet energy splittings. We present theoretical and experimental evidence that the cause of this problem in MOS double quantum dots is the stray positive charges in the oxide inducing accidental levels near the device's active region that allow spin blockade lifting. We also present evidence that these effects can be mitigated by device design modifications, such as overlapping gates.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Auto-tuning of double dot devices in situ with machine learning

The current practice of manually tuning quantum dots (QDs) for qubit operation is a relatively time-consuming procedure that is inherently impractical for scaling up and applications. In this work, we report on the {\it in situ} implementation of a recently proposed autotuning protocol that combines machine learning (ML) with an optimization routine to navigate the parameter space. In particular, we show that a ML algorithm trained using exclusively simulated data to quantitatively classify the state of a double-QD device can be used to replace human heuristics in the tuning of gate voltages in real devices. We demonstrate active feedback of a functional double-dot device operated at millikelvin temperatures and discuss success rates as a function of the initial conditions and the device performance. Modifications to the training network, fitness function, and optimizer are discussed as a path toward further improvement in the success rate when starting both near and far detuned from the target double-dot range.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Progress Towards a Capacitively Mediated CNOT Between Two Charge Qubits in Si/SiGe

Fast operations, an easily tunable Hamiltonian, and a straightforward two-qubit interaction make charge qubits a useful tool for benchmarking device performance and exploring two-qubit dynamics. Here, we tune a linear chain of four Si/SiGe quantum dots to host two double dot charge qubits. Using the capacitance between the double dots to mediate a strong two-qubit interaction, we simultaneously drive coherent transitions to generate correlations between the qubits. We then sequentially pulse the qubits to drive one qubit conditionally on the state of the other. We find that a conditional $π$-rotation can be driven in just 74 ps with a modest fidelity demonstrating the possibility of two-qubit operations with a 13.5 GHz clockspeed.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

High-Fidelity Entangling Gates for Quantum-Dot Hybrid Qubits Based on Exchange Interactions

Quantum dot hybrid qubits exploit an extended charge-noise sweet spot that suppresses dephasing and has enabled the experimental achievement of high-fidelity single-qubit gates. However, current proposals for two-qubit gates require tuning the qubits away from their sweet spots. Here, we propose a two-hybrid-qubit coupling scheme, based on exchange interactions, that allows the qubits to remain at their sweet spots at all times. The interaction is controlled via the inter-qubit tunnel coupling. By simulating such gates in the presence of realistic quasistatic and $1\!/\!f$ charge noise, we show that our scheme should enable controlled-$Z$ gates of length $\sim$5~ns, and Z-CNOT gates of length $\sim$7~ns, both with fidelities $>$99.9\%.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Majorana bound states in nanowire-superconductor hybrid systems in periodic magnetic fields

We study how the shape of a periodic magnetic field affects the presence of Majorana bound states (MBS) in a nanowire-superconductor system. Motivated by the field configurations that can be produced by an array of nanomagnets, we consider spiral fields with an elliptic cross-section and fields with two sinusoidal components. We show that MBS are robust to imperfect helical magnetic fields. In particular, if the amplitude of one component is tuned to the value determined by the superconducting order parameter in the wire, the MBS can exist even if the second component has a much smaller amplitude. We also explore the effect of the chemical potential on the phase diagram. Our analysis is both numerical and analytical, with good agreement between the two methods.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Entanglement and collective flavor oscillations in a dense neutrino gas

We investigate the importance of going beyond the mean-field approximation in the dynamics of collective neutrino oscillations. To expand our understanding of the coherent neutrino oscillation problem, we apply concepts from many-body physics and quantum information theory. Specifically, we use measures of nontrivial correlations (otherwise known as "entanglement") between the constituent neutrinos of the many-body system, such as the entanglement entropy and the Bloch vector of the reduced density matrix. The relevance of going beyond the mean field is demonstrated by comparisons between the evolution of the neutrino state in the many-body picture vs the mean-field limit, for different initial conditions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Measurements of capacitive coupling within a quadruple quantum dot array

We present measurements of the capacitive coupling energy and the inter-dot capacitances in a linear quadruple quantum dot array in undoped Si/SiGe. With the device tuned to a regime of strong ($>$1 GHz) intra-double dot tunnel coupling, as is typical for double dot qubits, we measure a capacitive coupling energy of $20.9 \pm 0.3$ GHz. In this regime, we demonstrate a fitting procedure to extract all the parameters in the 4D Hamiltonian for two capacitively coupled charge qubits from a 2D slice through the quadruple dot charge stability diagram. We also investigate the tunability of the capacitive coupling energy, using inter-dot barrier gate voltages to tune the inter- and intra-double dot capacitances, and change the capacitive coupling energy of the double dots over a range of 15-32 GHz. We provide a model for the capacitive coupling energy based on the electrostatics of a network of charge nodes joined by capacitors, which shows how the coupling energy should depend on inter-double dot and intra-double dot capacitances in the network, and find that the expected trends agree well with the measurements of coupling energy.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

High-fidelity single-qubit gates in a strongly driven quantum dot hybrid qubit with $1/f$ charge noise

Semiconductor double quantum dot hybrid qubits are promising candidates for high-fidelity quantum computing. However, their performance is limited by charge noise, which is ubiquitous in solid-state devices, and phonon-induced dephasing. Here we explore methods for improving the quantum operations of a hybrid qubit, using strong microwave driving to enable gate operations that are much faster than decoherence processes. Using numerical simulations and a theoretical method based on a cumulant expansion, we analyze qubit dynamics in the presence of $1/f$ charge noise, which forms the dominant decoherence mechanism in many solid-state devices. We show that, while strong-driving effects and charge noise both reduce the quantum gate fidelity, simple pulse-shaping techniques effectively suppress the strong-driving effects. Moreover, a broad AC sweet spot emerges when the detuning parameter and the tunneling coupling are driven simultaneously. Taking into account phonon-mediated noise, we find that it should be possible to achieve $X_π$ gates with fidelities higher than $99.9\%$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Enhancing the dipolar coupling of a $S$-$T_0$ qubit with a transverse sweet spot

A fundamental design challenge for quantum dot spin qubits is to extend the strength and range of qubit interactions while suppressing their coupling to the environment, since both effects have electrical origins. Key tools include the ability to retune the qubits, to take advantage of physical resources in different operating regimes, and to access optimal working points, or "sweet spots," where dephasing is minimized. Here, we explore an important, new resource for singlet-triplet qubits: a transverse sweet spot (TSS) that enables (i) direct transitions between qubit states, (ii) a strong, charge-like qubit coupling, and (iii) leading-order protection from electrical fluctuations. Of particular interest is the possibility of transitioning between the TSS and symmetric operating points while remaining continuously protected. This arrangement is ideal for coupling qubits to a microwave cavity, because it combines maximal tunability of the coupling strength with leading-order noise suppression. We perform simulations with $1/f$-type electrical noise, demonstrating that two-qubit gates mediated by a resonator can achieve fidelities $>99$\% under realistic conditions. These results greatly expand the toolbox for singlet-triplet qubits.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Coherent long-distance spin-qubit-transmon coupling

Spin qubits and superconducting qubits are among the promising candidates for a solid state quantum computer. For the implementation of a hybrid architecture which can profit from the advantages of either world, a coherent long-distance link is necessary that integrates and couples both qubit types on the same chip. We realize such a link with a frequency-tunable high impedance SQUID array resonator. The spin qubit is a resonant exchange qubit hosted in a GaAs triple quantum dot. It can be operated at zero magnetic field, allowing it to coexist with superconducting qubits on the same chip. We find a working point for the spin qubit, where the ratio between its coupling strength and decoherence rate is optimized. We observe coherent interaction between the resonant exchange qubit and a transmon qubit in both resonant and dispersive regimes, where the interaction is mediated either by real or virtual resonator photons.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗