No Arabic abstract
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.
We propose a setup for universal and electrically controlled quantum information processing with hole spins in Ge/Si core/shell nanowire quantum dots (NW QDs). Single-qubit gates can be driven through electric-dipole-induced spin resonance, with spin-flip times shorter than 100 ps. Long-distance qubit-qubit coupling can be mediated by the cavity electric field of a superconducting transmission line resonator, where we show that operation times below 20 ns seem feasible for the entangling square-root-of-iSWAP gate. The absence of Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction (SOI) and the presence of an unusually strong Rashba-type SOI enable precise control over the transverse qubit coupling via an externally applied, perpendicular electric field. The latter serves as an on-off switch for quantum gates and also provides control over the g factor, so single- and two-qubit gates can be operated independently. Remarkably, we find that idle qubits are insensitive to charge noise and phonons, and we discuss strategies for enhancing noise-limited gate fidelities.
Hole spin qubits are frontrunner platforms for scalable quantum computers, but state-of-the-art devices suffer from noise originating from the hyperfine interactions with nuclear defects. We show that these interactions have a highly tunable anisotropy that is controlled by device design and external electric fields. This tunability enables sweet spots where the hyperfine noise is suppressed by an order of magnitude and is comparable to isotopically purified materials. We identify surprisingly simple designs where the qubits are highly coherent and are largely unaffected by both charge and hyperfine noise. We find that the large spin-orbit interaction typical of elongated quantum dots not only speeds up qubit operations, but also dramatically renormalizes the hyperfine noise, altering qualitatively the dynamics of driven qubits and enhancing the fidelity of qubit gates. Our findings serve as guidelines to design high performance qubits for scaling up quantum computers.
Hole spin qubits in planar Ge heterostructures are one of the frontrunner platforms for scalable quantum computers. In these systems, the spin-orbit interactions permit efficient all-electric qubit control. We propose a minimal design modification of planar devices that enhances these interactions by orders of magnitude and enables low power ultrafast qubit operations in the GHz range. Our approach is based on an asymmetric potential that strongly squeezes the quantum dot in one direction. This confinement-induced spin-orbit interaction does not rely on microscopic details of the device such as growth direction or strain, and could be turned on and off on demand in state-of-the-art qubits.
We have measured the carrier spin dynamics in p-doped InAs/GaAs quantum dots by pump-probe photo-induced circular dichroism and time-resolved photoluminescence experiments. We show that the hole spin dephasing is controlled by the hyperfine interaction between hole and nuclear spins. In the absence of external magnetic field, we find a characteristic hole spin dephasing time of 15 ns, in close agreement with our calculations based on dipole-dipole coupling between the hole and the quantum dot nuclei. Finally we demonstrate that a small external magnetic field, typically 10 mT instead of 200 mT for the case of electrons, quenches the hyperfine hole spin dephasing.
Quantum dots are arguably the best interface between matter spin qubits and flying photonic qubits. Using quantum dot devices to produce joint spin-photonic states requires the electronic spin qubits to be stored for extended times. Therefore, the study of the coherence of spins of various quantum dot confined charge carriers is important both scientifically and technologically. In this study we report on spin relaxation measurements performed on five different forms of electronic spin qubits confined in the very same quantum dot. In particular, we use all optical techniques to measure the spin relaxation of the confined heavy hole and that of the dark exciton - a long lived electron-heavy hole pair with parallel spins. Our measured results for the spin relaxation of the electron, the heavy-hole, the dark exciton, the negative and the positive trions, in the absence of externally applied magnetic field, are in agreement with a central spin theory which attributes the dephasing of the carriers spin to their hyperfine interactions with the nuclear spins of the atoms forming the quantum dots. We demonstrate that the heavy hole dephases much slower than the electron. We also show, both experimentally and theoretically, that the dark exciton dephases slower than the heavy hole, due to the electron-hole exchange interaction, which partially protects its spin state from dephasing.