Semiconductor Double Quantum Dot Research Articles

Controllable storage and retrieval of temporal vector optical solitons in semiconductor double quantum dots by inter-dot tunneling coupling effect

In this study, we analyzed the storage and retrieval of vector optical fields in semiconductor double quantum dots with interdot tunneling coupling. Our findings indicate that temporal vector optical solitons (TVOS) can be effectively stored and retrieved through this coupling. Furthermore, we conducted numerical simulations to investigate the interaction between TVOS. Our results suggest that the interaction between in-phase solitons is attractive, while the interaction between anti-phase solitons is repulsive. Additionally, we found that TVOS remain stable even after a collision, which is significant for the processing of optical information in solid quantum materials. Overall, our study sheds light on the potential of interdot tunneling coupling for storing and retrieving vector optical fields in semiconductor double quantum dots. Additionally, our findings regarding the interaction between TVOS can inform future research in the field of optical information processing.

Pulse-controlled qubit in semiconductor double quantum dots

We present a numerically-optimized multipulse framework for the quantum control of a single-electron double quantum dot qubit. Our framework defines a set of pulse sequences, necessary for the manipulation of the ideal qubit basis, that avoids errors associated with excitations outside the computational subspace. A novel control scheme manipulates the qubit adiabatically, while also retaining high speed and ability to perform a general single-qubit rotation. This basis generates spatially localized logical qubit states, making readout straightforward. We consider experimentally realistic semiconductor qubits with finite pulse rise and fall times and determine the fastest pulse sequence yielding the highest fidelity. We show that our protocol leads to improved control of a qubit. We present simulations of a double quantum dot in a semiconductor device to visualize and verify our protocol. These results can be generalized to other physical systems since they depend only on pulse rise and fall times and the energy gap between the two lowest eigenstates.

Modularized and scalable compilation for double quantum dot quantum computing

Any quantum program on a realistic quantum device must be compiled into an executable form while taking into account the underlying hardware constraints. Stringent restrictions on architecture and control imposed by physical platforms make this very challenging. In this paper, based on the quantum variational algorithm, we propose a novel scheme to train an Ansatz circuit and realize high-fidelity compilation of a set of universal quantum gates for singlet-triplet qubits in semiconductor double quantum dots, a fairly heavily constrained system. Furthermore, we propose a scalable architecture for a modular implementation of quantum programs in this constrained systems and validate its performance with two representative demonstrations, the Grover’s algorithm for the database searching (static compilation) and a variant of variational quantum eigensolver for the Max-Cut optimization (dynamic compilation). Our methods are potentially applicable to a wide range of physical devices. This work constitutes an important stepping-stone for exploiting the potential for advanced and complicated quantum algorithms on near-term devices.

Thermal entanglement and quantum coherence of a single electron in a double quantum dot with Rashba interaction

In this work, we study the thermal quantum coherence and fidelity in a semiconductor double quantum dot. The device consists of a single electron in a double quantum dot with Rashba spin-orbit coupling in the presence of an external magnetic field. In our scenario, the thermal entanglement of the single electron is driven by the charge and spin qubits, the latter controlled by Rashba coupling. Analytical expressions are obtained for thermal concurrence and correlated coherence using the density matrix formalism. The main goal of this work is to provide a good understanding of the effects of temperature and several parameters in quantum coherence. In addition, our findings show that we can use the Rashba coupling to tune in the thermal entanglement, quantum coherence, as well as, the thermal fidelity behavior of the system. Moreover, we focus on the role played by thermal entanglement and correlated coherence responsible for quantum correlations. We observe that the correlated coherence is more robust than the thermal entanglement in all cases, so quantum algorithms based only on correlated coherence may be stronger than those based on entanglement.

Measurement-induced population switching

Quantum information processing is a key technology in the ongoing second quantum revolution, with a wide variety of hardware platforms competing toward its realization. An indispensable component of such hardware is a measurement device, i.e., a quantum detector that is used to determine the outcome of a computation. The act of measurement in quantum mechanics, however, is naturally invasive as the measurement apparatus becomes entangled with the system that it observes. This always leads to a disturbance in the observed system, a phenomenon called quantum measurement backaction, which should solely lead to the collapse of the quantum wave function and the physical realization of the measurement postulate of quantum mechanics. Here we demonstrate that backaction can fundamentally change the quantum system through the detection process. For quantum information processing, this means that the readout alters the system in such a way that a faulty measurement outcome is obtained. Specifically, we report a backaction-induced population switching, where the bare presence of weak, nonprojective measurements by an adjacent charge sensor inverts the electronic charge configuration of a semiconductor double quantum dot system. The transition region grows with measurement strength and is suppressed by temperature, in excellent agreement with our coherent quantum backaction model. Our result exposes backaction channels that appear at the interplay between the detector and the system environments, and opens new avenues for controlling and mitigating backaction effects in future quantum technologies.

In situ Tuning of the Electric-Dipole Strength of a Double-Dot Charge Qubit: Charge-Noise Protection and Ultrastrong Coupling

Semiconductor quantum dots in which electrons or holes are isolated via electrostatic potentials generated by surface gates are promising building blocks for semiconductor-based quantum technology. Here, we investigate double-quantum-dot (DQD) charge qubits in GaAs capacitively coupled to high-impedance superconducting quantum interference device array and Josephson-junction array resonators. We tune the strength of the electric-dipole interaction between the qubit and the resonator in situ using surface gates. We characterize the qubit-resonator coupling strength, the qubit decoherence, and the detuning noise affecting the charge qubit for different electrostatic DQD configurations. We find all quantities to be systematically tunable over more than one order of magnitude, resulting in reproducible decoherence rates Γ2/2π<5 MHz in the limit of high interdot capacitance. In the opposite limit, by reducing the interdot capacitance, we increase the DQD electric-dipole strength and, therefore, its coupling to the resonator. Employing a Josephson-junction array resonator with an impedance of approximately 4 kΩ and a resonance frequency of ωr/2π∼5.6 GHz, we observe a coupling strength of g/2π∼630 MHz, demonstrating the possibility to operate electrons hosted in a semiconductor DQD in the ultrastrong-coupling regime (USC). The presented results are essential for further increasing the coherence of quantum-dot-based qubits and investigating USC physics in semiconducting QDs.6 MoreReceived 26 October 2021Revised 3 April 2022Accepted 26 May 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.12.031004Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasQuantum information architectures & platformsQuantum information processingQuantum information with hybrid systemsQuantum information with solid state qubitsQuantum Information

Deep reinforcement learning for universal quantum state preparation via dynamic pulse control

Accurate and efficient preparation of quantum state is a core issue in building a quantum computer. In this paper, we investigate how to prepare a certain single- or two-qubit target state from arbitrary initial states in semiconductor double quantum dots with only a few discrete control pulses by leveraging the deep reinforcement learning. Our method is based on the training of the network over numerous preparing tasks. The results show that once the network is well trained, it works for any initial states in the continuous Hilbert space. Thus repeated training for new preparation tasks is avoided. Our scheme outperforms the traditional optimization approaches based on gradient with both the higher efficiency and the preparation quality in discrete control space. Moreover, we find that the control trajectories designed by our scheme are robust against stochastic fluctuations within certain thresholds, such as the charge and nuclear noises.

3D integration and measurement of a semiconductor double quantum dot with a high-impedance TiN resonator

One major challenge to scaling quantum dot qubits is the dense wiring requirements, making it difficult to envision fabricating large 2D arrays of nearest-neighbor-coupled qubits necessary for error correction. We describe a method to ameliorate this issue by spacing out the qubits using superconducting resonators facilitated by 3D integration. To prove the viability of this approach, we use integration to couple an off-chip high-impedance TiN resonator to a double quantum dot in a Si/SiGe heterostructure. Using the resonator as a dispersive gate sensor, we tune the device down to the single electron regime with an SNR = 5.36. Characterizing the individual systems shows 3D integration can be done while maintaining low-charge noise for the quantum dots and high-quality factors for the superconducting resonator (single photon QL = 2.14 × 104 with Qi ≈ 3 × 105), necessary for readout and high-fidelity two-qubit gates.

Universal Singlet‐Triplet Qubits Implemented Near the Transverse Sweet Spot

AbstractThe key to realizing fault‐tolerant quantum computation for singlet‐triplet (ST) qubits in semiconductor double quantum dot (DQD) is to operate both the single‐ and two‐qubit gates with high fidelity. The feasible way includes operating the qubit near the transverse sweet spot (TSS) to reduce the leading order of the noise, as well as adopting the proper pulse sequences which are immune to noise. The single‐qubit gates can be achieved by introducing an AC drive on the detuning near the TSS. The large dipole moment of the DQDs at the TSS has enabled strong coupling between the qubits and the cavity resonator, which leads to two‐qubit entangling gates. When operating in the proper region and applying modest pulse sequences, both single‐ and two‐qubit gates have fidelity higher than 99%. The results in this paper suggest that taking advantage of the appropriate pulse sequences near the TSS can be effective to obtain high‐fidelity ST qubits.

Optical measurement of double-dot population using photon transmission via three coupled microresonators

A scheme for measuring the state of a charge qubit on a semiconductor single-electron double quantum dot (DQD) coupled to a photonic molecule (PM) consisting of three optical microresonators is proposed. The DQD that is the qubit plays the role of a nonlinear element whose electron state affects a PM response to an external laser field. Analysis of the spectroscopic response of the structure in the steady-state regime allows one to determine the state of the qubit. As an example, the spectrum of the PM formed by three GaAs microdisk resonators are calculated. The effect of various system parameters on the measuring contrast and the signal-to-noise ratio is studied. It is shown that this ratio can reach values of 15 000–20 000 for certain sets of parameters.

Photonic Molecule with Mechanical Frequency Tuning for the Optical Measurements of a Semiconductor Charge Qubit

A spectroscopic approach to measuring a charge qubit placed in a waveguide consisting of three microcavities (a photonic molecule) is discussed. The logical states of a qubit are represented by the single-electron orbitals of a semiconductor double quantum dot. The impact of different factors that cause deviations of the system’s parameters from specified values ​​is investigated. The possibility of controlling the spectrum of a photonic molecule using a local change in its dielectric properties in order to optimize the qubit measurement procedure is analyzed. The functions of the measuring contrast and signal-to-noise ratio are calculated depending on the main parameters of the system.

Strong coupling of hybrid system between semiconductor quantum dots and superconducting resonator

<p indent=0mm>Quantum computing is a powerful way of improving computing efficiency. For some specific problems, quantum processor can exponentially reduce computation time compared to the classical computer. Cavity quantum electrodynamics, which studies the coherent interaction between photons in an optical cavity and atoms or other two-level systems, is of enormous significance to quantum computing and quantum information processing. The strong coupling regime where a cavity photon mode and an atom exchange a single quantum energy coherently has attracted extensive interest in varied experimental platforms and systems such as alkali atoms, Rydberg atoms, large spin ensembles, magnons, etc. The semiconductor gate-defined double quantum dot (DQD) system is one of the most promising platforms that possesses advantages of advanced micro-nano processing technology and outstanding scalability. Introducing the concept of cavity QED into superconducting circuits (circuit QED, cQED), provides an opportunity to study interaction between electrons confined in semiconductor DQD and photons trapped in a superconducting resonator. Reaching strong coupling regime in this hybrid system paves the way to large-scale network of quantum computing. Electrons confined in DQD have large electrical dipoles, thus are able to couple to photons with relatively large coupling rate. Whereas, due to the charge noise and other dissipation channels in the hybrid system, the decoherence rate of the system is larger than the coupling rate, leaving the strong coupling a great challenge. In recent years, different methods have been proposed to access the strong coupling regime. Taking advantage of a high-quality heterojunction structure, an overlapping gate architecture and a low-pass LC filter on the DC bias line, the decoherence of the charge qubit and microwave leakage of the resonator can be effectively suppressed. The coupling strength of the hybrid system can be improved utilizing a high impedance resonator which is comprised of high kinetic inductance materials. Spin, which does not interact directly with the electric field, is insensitive to charge noise and has much longer decoherence time than charge qubit. However, the weak interaction results in a small coupling rate between the spin and the photon. To solve this problem, the method of coherent hybridization between the spin and the charge state is proposed to improve the coupling strength. This hybridization can be achieved by applying a non-uniform magnetic field, utilizing spin-orbit interaction or spin exchange interaction. At present, both charge qubits and spin qubits have achieved strong coupling with the cavity and the coupling distance between long-range qubits is greatly expanded as long as millimeters. This review introduces basic ideas about cQED and fundamental elements in semiconductor cQED systems. Recent progress in strong coupling hybrid system and methods for improving coupling structures are discussed. In future research, more efforts will be devoted into long-range transfer of qubit states and photon-mediated two or multi-qubit gates.

Optimal dispersive readout of a spin qubit with a microwave resonator

Strong coupling of semiconductor spin qubits to superconducting microwave resonators was recently demonstrated. These breakthroughs pave the way for quantum information processing that combines the long coherence times of solid-state spin qubits with the long-distance connectivity, fast control, and fast high-fidelity quantum-non-demolition readout of existing superconducting qubit implementations. Here, we theoretically analyze and optimize the dispersive readout of a single spin in a semiconductor double quantum dot (DQD) coupled to a microwave resonator via its electric dipole moment. The strong spin-photon coupling arises from the motion of the electron spin in a local magnetic field gradient. We calculate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the readout accounting for both Purcell spin relaxation and spin relaxation arising from intrinsic electric noise within the semiconductor. We express the maximum achievable SNR in terms of the cooperativity associated with these two dissipation processes. We find that while the cooperativity increases with the strength of the dipole coupling between the DQD and the resonator, it does not depend on the strength of the magnetic field gradient. We then optimize the SNR as a function of experimentally tunable DQD parameters. We identify wide regions of parameter space where the unwanted backaction of the resonator photons on the qubit is small. Moreover, we find that the coupling of the resonator to other DQD transitions can enhance the SNR by at least a factor of two, a ``straddling'' effect that occurs only at nonzero energy detuning of the DQD double-well potential. We estimate that with current technology, single-shot readout fidelities in the range $82-95\%$ can be achieved within a few $\mu\textrm{s}$ of readout time without requiring the use of Purcell filters.

High-fidelity single-qubit gates in a strongly driven quantum-dot hybrid qubit with1/fcharge 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 $X_{\pi}$ gates with fidelities higher than $99.9\%$.

Coherent microwave-photon-mediated coupling between a semiconductor and a superconducting qubit

Semiconductor qubits rely on the control of charge and spin degrees of freedom of electrons or holes confined in quantum dots. They constitute a promising approach to quantum information processing, complementary to superconducting qubits. Here, we demonstrate coherent coupling between a superconducting transmon qubit and a semiconductor double quantum dot (DQD) charge qubit mediated by virtual microwave photon excitations in a tunable high-impedance SQUID array resonator acting as a quantum bus. The transmon-charge qubit coherent coupling rate (~21 MHz) exceeds the linewidth of both the transmon (~0.8 MHz) and the DQD charge qubit (~2.7 MHz). By tuning the qubits into resonance for a controlled amount of time, we observe coherent oscillations between the constituents of this hybrid quantum system. These results enable a new class of experiments exploring the use of two-qubit interactions mediated by microwave photons to create entangled states between semiconductor and superconducting qubits.

Tuning Methods for Semiconductor Spin Qubits

We present efficient methods to reliably characterize and tune gate-defined semiconductor spin qubits. Our methods are designed to target the tuning procedures of semiconductor double quantum dot in GaAs heterostructures, but can easily be adapted to other quantum-dot-like qubit systems. These tuning procedures include the characterization of the inter-dot tunnel coupling, the tunnel coupling to the surrounding leads and the identification of the various fast initialization points for the operation of the qubit. Since semiconductor-based spin qubits are compatible with standard semiconductor process technology and hence promise good prospects of scalability, the challenge of efficiently tuning the dot's parameters will only grow in the near future, once the multi-qubit stage is reached. With the anticipation of being used as the basis for future automated tuning protocols, all measurements presented here are fast-to-execute and easy-to-analyze characterization methods. They result in quantitative measures of the relevant qubit parameters within a couple of seconds, and require almost no human interference.

Implementation of a Two-Qubit C-NOT Quantum Gate in a System of Two Double Quantum Dots, a Microcavity, and a Laser

We study the possibility of implementing a two-qubit controlled-NOT gate operation in a structure consisting of two semiconductor double quantum dots placed in a high-Q optical microcavity and governed by a resonant laser field. The effect of relaxation processes on the dynamics of the two-electron system is discussed. The dissipation rates allowing quantum error correction algorithms to be used are determined. The existing additional excitation channel (laser pulse) is shown to weaken the effect of the nonideality of the cavity on the evolution of the states. Optimal electron coupling coefficients in the quantum dots with control fields are fitted, in which the controlled qubit is switched with the highest probability and the gate implementation takes several hundreds of picoseconds.

Automated tuning of inter-dot tunnel coupling in double quantum dots

Semiconductor quantum dot arrays defined electrostatically in a 2D electron gas provide a scalable platform for quantum information processing and quantum simulations. For the operation of quantum dot arrays, appropriate voltages need to be applied to the gate electrodes that define the quantum dot potential landscape. Tuning the gate voltages has proven to be a time-consuming task, because of initial electrostatic disorder and capacitive cross-talk effects. Here, we report on the automated tuning of the inter-dot tunnel coupling in gate-defined semiconductor double quantum dots. The automation of the tuning of the inter-dot tunnel coupling is the next step forward in scalable and efficient control of larger quantum dot arrays. This work greatly reduces the effort of tuning semiconductor quantum dots for quantum information processing and quantum simulation.

Error correction for gate operations in systems of exchange-coupled singlet-triplet qubits in double quantum dots

We present a scheme for correcting for crosstalk- and noise-induced errors in exchange-coupled singlet-triplet semiconductor double quantum dot qubits. While exchange coupling allows the coupling strength to be controlled independently of the intraqubit exchange couplings, there is also the problem of leakage, which must be addressed. We show that, if a large magnetic field difference is present between the two qubits, leakage is suppressed. We then develop pulse sequences that correct for crosstalk- and noise-induced errors and present parameters describing them for the 24 Clifford gates. We determine the infidelity for both the uncorrected and corrected gates as a function of the error-inducing terms and show that our corrected pulse sequences reduce the error by several orders of magnitude.

Effect of optical phonons on the charge qubit dynamics in a semiconductor microcavity

We consider the possibility of using optical vibrational degrees of freedom as an additional resource for controlling the evolution of a charge qubit based on a semiconductor single-electron double quantum dot. The effect of electron – photon – phonon processes on the accuracy of single-qubit operations is investigated. It is shown that, depending on the phonon decay rate and detuning of the electronic transition frequency from the optical phonon frequency, these processes can both facilitate and prevent coherent electron transfer between quantum dots.