Scientists one step closer to silicon quantum computing
Scientists at UNSW Sydney have overcome a critical technical hurdle for building a silicon-based quantum computer, demonstrating a compact sensor for accessing information stored in the electrons of individual atoms.
Led by Australian of the Year Professor Michelle Simmons, the research is believed to bring us one step closer to scalable quantum computing in silicon. It was conducted at UNSW’s Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T) and has been published in the journal Physical Review X (PRX).
Quantum bits (or qubits) made from electrons hosted on single atoms in semiconductors is a promising platform for large-scale quantum computers, thanks to their long-lasting stability. Creating qubits by precisely positioning and encapsulating individual phosphorus atoms within a silicon chip is a unique approach that Prof Simmons’ team has been leading globally. But adding in all the connections and gates required for scale-up of the phosphorus atom architecture was going to be a challenge — until now.
“To monitor even one qubit, you have to build multiple connections and gates around individual atoms, where there is not a lot of room,” said Prof Simmons. “What’s more, you need high-quality qubits in close proximity so they can talk to each other — which is only achievable if you’ve got as little gate infrastructure around them as possible.”
Compared with other approaches for making a quantum computer, Prof Simmons’ system already had a relatively low gate density. Yet conventional measurement still required at least four gates per qubit: one to control it and three to read it. By integrating the read-out sensor into one of the control gates, the UNSW team has been able to drop this to just two gates: one for control and one for reading.
“Not only is our system more compact, but by integrating a superconducting circuit attached to the gate we now have the sensitivity to determine the quantum state of the qubit by measuring whether an electron moves between two neighbouring atoms,” said PhD student Prasanna Pakkiam, lead author on the study.
“And we’ve shown that we can do this real time with just one measurement — single shot — without the need to repeat the experiment and average the outcomes.”
“This represents a major advance in how we read information embedded in our qubits,” said Prof Simmons. “The result confirms that single-gate reading of qubits is now reaching the sensitivity needed to perform the necessary quantum error correction for a scalable quantum computer.”
Please follow us and share on Twitter and Facebook. You can also subscribe for FREE to our weekly newsletter and bimonthly magazine.
3D semiconductor chip alignment boosts performance
Researchers have developed an ultra-precise method to align 3D semiconductor chips using lasers...
Researchers achieve 8 W output from optical parametric oscillator
Researchers have demonstrated a total output power of 8 W from a high-power mid-infrared cadmium...
"Dualtronic" chip for integrated electronics and photonics
Cornell researchers have developed a dual-sided chip known as a "dualtronic" chip that...
