High-fidelity spin qubit operation and algorithmic initialization above 1 K

Abstract

The encoding of qubits in semiconductor spin carriers has been recognized as a promising approach to a commercial quantum computer that can be lithographically produced and integrated at scale1–10. However, the operation of the large number of qubits required for advantageous quantum applications11–13 will produce a thermal load exceeding the available cooling power of cryostats at millikelvin temperatures. As the scale-up accelerates, it becomes imperative to establish fault-tolerant operation above 1 K, at which the cooling power is orders of magnitude higher14–18. Here we tune up and operate spin qubits in silicon above 1 K, with fidelities in the range required for fault-tolerant operations at these temperatures19–21. We design an algorithmic initialization protocol to prepare a pure two-qubit state even when the thermal energy is substantially above the qubit energies and incorporate radiofrequency readout to achieve fidelities up to 99.34% for both readout and initialization. We also demonstrate single-qubit Clifford gate fidelities up to 99.85% and a two-qubit gate fidelity of 98.92%. These advances overcome the fundamental limitation that the thermal energy must be well below the qubit energies for the high-fidelity operation to be possible, surmounting a main obstacle in the pathway to scalable and fault-tolerant quantum computation.