No Arabic abstract
Electrons confined in semiconductor quantum dot arrays have both charge and spin degrees of freedom. The spin provides a well-controllable and long-lived qubit implementation. The charge configuration in the dot array is influenced by Coulomb repulsion, and the same interaction enables charge sensors to probe this configuration. Here we show that the Coulomb repulsion allows an initial charge transition to induce subsequent charge transitions, inducing a cascade of electron hops, like toppling dominoes. A cascade can transmit information along a quantum dot array over a distance that extends by far the effect of the direct Coulomb repulsion. We demonstrate that a cascade of electrons can be combined with Pauli spin blockade to read out spins using a remote charge sensor. We achieve > 99.9% spin readout fidelity in 1.7 $mathrm{mu}$s. The cascade-based readout enables operation of a densely-packed two-dimensional quantum dot array with charge sensors placed at the periphery. The high connectivity of such arrays greatly improves the capabilities of quantum dot systems for quantum computation and simulation.
Single electron spins confined in silicon quantum dots hold great promise as a quantum computing architecture with demonstrations of long coherence times, high-fidelity quantum logic gates, basic quantum algorithms and device scalability. While single-shot spin detection is now a laboratory routine, the need for quantum error correction in a large-scale quantum computing device demands a quantum non-demolition (QND) implementation. Unlike conventional counterparts, the QND spin readout imposes minimal disturbance to the probed spin polarization and can therefore be repeated to extinguish measurement errors. However, it has remained elusive for an electron spin in silicon as it involves exquisite exposure of the system to the external circuitry for readout while maintaining the coherence and integrity of the qubit. Here we show that an electron spin qubit in silicon can be measured in a highly non-demolition manner by probing another electron spin in a neighboring dot Ising-coupled to the qubit spin. The high non-demolition fidelity (99% on average) enables over 20 readout repetitions of a single spin state, yielding an overall average measurement fidelity of up to 95% within 1.2 ms. We further demonstrate that our repetitive QND readout protocol can realize heralded high-fidelity (> 99.6%) ground-state preparation. Our QND-based measurement and preparation, mediated by a second qubit of the same kind, will allow for a new class of quantum information protocols with electron spins in silicon without compromising the architectural homogeneity.
The size of silicon transistors used in microelectronic devices is shrinking to the level where quantum effects become important. While this presents a significant challenge for the further scaling of microprocessors, it provides the potential for radical innovations in the form of spin-based quantum computers and spintronic devices. An electron spin in Si can represent a well-isolated quantum bit with long coherence times because of the weak spin-orbit coupling and the possibility to eliminate nuclear spins from the bulk crystal. However, the control of single electrons in Si has proved challenging, and has so far hindered the observation and manipulation of a single spin. Here we report the first demonstration of single-shot, time-resolved readout of an electron spin in Si. This has been performed in a device consisting of implanted phosphorus donors coupled to a metal-oxide-semiconductor single-electron transistor - compatible with current microelectronic technology. We observed a spin lifetime approaching 1 second at magnetic fields below 2 T, and achieved spin readout fidelity better than 90%. High-fidelity single-shot spin readout in Si opens the path to the development of a new generation of quantum computing and spintronic devices, built using the most important material in the semiconductor industry.
Using pulsed photoionization the coherent spin manipulation and echo formation of ensembles of NV- centers in diamond are detected electrically realizing contrasts of up to 17 %. The underlying spin-dependent ionization dynamics are investigated experimentally and compared to Monte-Carlo simulations. This allows the identification of the conditions optimizing contrast and sensitivity which compare favorably with respect to optical detection.
Silicon spin qubits are promising candidates for realising large scale quantum processors, benefitting from a magnetically quiet host material and the prospects of leveraging the mature silicon device fabrication industry. We report the measurement of an electron spin in a singly-occupied gate-defined quantum dot, fabricated using CMOS compatible processes at the 300 mm wafer scale. For readout, we employ spin-dependent tunneling combined with a low-footprint single-lead quantum dot charge sensor, measured using radiofrequency gate reflectometry. We demonstrate spin readout in two devices using this technique, obtaining valley splittings in the range 0.5-0.7 meV using excited state spectroscopy, and measure a maximum electron spin relaxation time ($T_1$) of $9 pm 3$ s at 1 Tesla. These long lifetimes indicate the silicon nanowire geometry and fabrication processes employed here show a great deal of promise for qubit devices, while the spin-readout method demonstrated here is well-suited to a variety of scalable architectures.
Single-molecule memory device based on a single-molecule magnet (SMM) is one of the ultimate goals of semiconductor nanofabrication technologies. Here, we study how to manipulate and readout the SMMs two spin-state of stored information that characterized by the maximum and minimum average value of the $Z$-component of the total spin of the SMM and the conduction-electron, which are recognized as the information bits $1$ and $0$. We demonstrate that the switching time depends on both the sequential tunneling gap $varepsilon_{se}$ and the spin-selection-rule allowed transition-energy $varepsilon_{trans}$, which can be tuned by the gate voltage. In particular, when the external bias voltage is turned off, in the cases of the unoccupied and doubly-occupied ground eigenstates, the time derivative of the transport current can be used to read out the SMMs two spin-state of stored information. Moreover, the tunneling strength of and the asymmetry of the SMM-electrode coupling have a strong influence on the switching time, but that have a slight influence on the readout time that being on the order of nanoseconds. Our results suggest a SMM-based memory device, and provide fundamental insight into the electrical controllable manipulation and readout of the SMMs two spin-state of stored information.