State readout is a key requirement for a quantum computer. For semiconductor-based qubit devices it is usually accomplished using a separate mesoscopic electrometer. Here we demonstrate a simple detection scheme in which a radio frequency resonant circuit coupled to a semiconductor double quantum dot is used to probe its charge and spin states. These results demonstrate a new noninvasive technique for measuring charge and spin states in quantum dot systems without requiring a separate mesoscopic detector.
State readout is a key requirement for a quantum computer. For semiconductor-based qubit devices it is usually accomplished using a separate mesoscopic electrometer. Here we demonstrate a simple detection scheme in which a radio frequency resonant circuit coupled to a semiconductor double quantum dot is used to probe its charge and spin states. These results demonstrate a new noninvasive technique for measuring charge and spin states in quantum dot systems without requiring a separate mesoscopic detector.
Spin qubits in gate-defined semiconductor quantum dots are a promising platform for realising a scalable quantum computer. This platform encodes quantum information into the intrinsic angular momentum (spin) of individual electrons or holes. In particular, hole spins in quantum dots enable the possibility of all-electrical spin control due to their intrinsic spin-orbit coupling. One important criterion of a quantum computer is the ability to reliably read out the state of the qubit. This is done by mapping spin information to the charge degree of freedom, combined with a method for charge detection. Charge detection can be facilitated by coupling a resonator directly to the quantum dot gate or to a charge sensor and measuring the resonator's phase or amplitude response. In this thesis, we describe a set of experiments relating to the implementation of hole spin qubit readout with superconducting resonators. First, we study gate-based charge sensing in a Si fin field-effect transistor (finFET) device using a superconducting NbN nanowire resonator. We find that the resonator amplifies capacitive crosstalk when electrical control pulses are applied to gate electrodes in this device. This occurs whenever a spectral component of qubit control pulses overlaps with the resonance frequency, which we show may occur for both baseband and radio-frequency (RF) drive signals. We quantify this crosstalk in a transport-based method, and attribute its source to the capacitance between the bondpads of neighbouring gate electrodes. In a second experiment, we use an RF charge sensor with the same nanowire technology to read out hole spin qubits formed in the quantum well of a Ge/SiGe heterostructure. A screening layer approach is used to facilitate RF matching due to large RF dissipation found in the heterostructure. We implement a double-latched readout scheme in this system to reduce errors arising from both spin and charge decay during readout. The spin-to-charge conversion process and its dependence on magnetic field orientation is studied. Spin and charge decay processes arising after spin-to-charge conversion are mitigated by choosing an optimal working point for the field orientation, field amplitude and readout pulse times. By doing so, we achieve an average single-shot state-preparation-and-measurement fidelity of 97%, primarily bounded by imperfect state preparation and limited signal-to-noise ratio. Finally, we study coplanar waveguide resonators fabricated from NbN. We investigate the feasibility of integrating this type of resonator onto the same chip as the Si finFET quantum dots. We then develop a novel resonator readout technique by the interference of two microwave sidebands. We demonstrate the insensitivity of this technique to common-mode phase and amplitude noise both theoretically and experimentally. This technique is then used to study resonator noise arising from two-level system defects. These results highlight both the practical constraints and the potential for achieving high readout fidelities using resonator-based hole spin qubit readout. This work establishes a blueprint for mitigating resonator-induced crosstalk and enabling high-fidelity readout in lossy materials by incorporating a screening layer.
By coupling a radio-frequency single-electron transistor (RF-SET) to a quantum dot (QD) in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure, we have succeeded in detecting the tunneling of individual electrons on and off the QD on time scales as short as one microsecond. Using charge detection to probe the state of the QD allows us to nearly isolate the dot from its leads, thereby minimizing decoherence-inducing effects of the environment. We have extended these charge detection techniques to double quantum dots (DQDs) that can simultaneously be used to characterize the backaction of the RF-SET. The combined RF-SET/DQD system is well-suited to the development of charge- or spin-based quantum bits, and to investigation of the quantum measurement problem.
Quantum computation requires a qubit-specific measurement capability to readout the final state of individual qubits. Promising solid-state architectures use external readout electrometers but these can be replaced by a more compact readout element, an in situ gate sensor. Gate-sensing couples the qubit to a resonant circuit via a gate and probes the qubit’s radiofrequency polarizability. Here we investigate the ultimate performance of such a resonant readout scheme and the noise sources that limit its operation. We find a charge sensitivity of 37 μe Hz−1/2, the best value reported for this technique, using the example of a gate sensor strongly coupled to a double quantum dot at the corner states of a silicon nanowire transistor. We discuss the experimental factors limiting gate detection and highlight ways to optimize its sensitivity. In total, resonant gate-based readout has advantages over external electrometers both in terms of reduction of circuit elements as well as absolute charge sensitivity. Reading out the state of quantum bits is an essential requirement that any quantum computer implementation must satisfy. Gonzalez-Zalba et al. now show that in situresonant gate-based detection can be a more sensitive approach than external electrometers while reducing the qubit architecture’s complexity.
Semiconductor quantum dots in silicon demonstrate exceptionally long spin lifetimes as qubits and are therefore promising candidates for quantum information processing. However, control and readout techniques for these devices have thus far employed low frequency electrons, in contrast to high speed temperature readout techniques used in other qubit architectures, and coupling between multiple quantum dot qubits has not been satisfactorily addressed.This dissertation presents the design and characterization of a semiconductor charge qubit based on double quantum dot in silicon with an integrated microwave resonator for control and readout. The 6 GHz resonator is designed to achieve strong coupling with the quantum dot qubit, allowing the use of circuit QED control and readout techniques which have not previously been applicable to semiconductor qubits. To achieve this coupling, this document demonstrates successful operation of a novel silicon double quantum dot design with a single active metallic layer and a coplanar stripline resonator with a bias tee for dc excitation.Experiments presented here demonstrate quantum localization and measurement of both electrons on the quantum dot and photons in the resonator. Further, it is shown that the resonator-qubit coupling in these devices is sufficient to reach the strong coupling regime of circuit QED. The details of a measurement setup capable of performing simultaneous low noise measurements of the resonator and quantum dot structure are also presented here.The ultimate aim of this research is to integrate the long coherence times observed in electron spins in silicon with the sophisticated readout architectures available in circuit QED based quantum information systems. This would allow superconducting qubits to be coupled directly to semiconductor qubits to create hybrid quantum systems with separate quantum memory and processing components.
The need for fast readout to measure the state of a quantum dot device has important applications in the capabilities of using them as a means for quantum information processing. Traditional charge sensors used to readout the charge state of a quantum dot device are very robust and sensitive electrometers that have been in use since the late 1980s. They pose an issue to the future of quantum dots as a viable means of quantum computing, and that is in their slow acquisition times of the charge state of the quantum dot. This rate of measurement means that implementing any quantum error correction scheme becomes very difficult or even unfeasible as the coherence times of these semiconductor systems is short compared to charge sensor’s acquisition times. A possibility to speed up the measurement process of the charge state is possible thanks to the atomic molecular and optical (AMO) physics community.Cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED) is the study of light-matter interactions when both the light and matter are taken to be quantized. A photon may interact with an atom via a dipole interaction to excite it from its ground state to its excited state, and the reverse can occur where the atom emits a photon and decays from its excited state ii to the ground state. This fundamental interaction which has been extensively studied in the AMO community since the early 1960s had been adopted by the superconducting qubit community to measure the state of their qubits. These superconducting qubits, representing atoms, which are coupled to a resonant structure on chip, which represents the photons that can interact with the artificial atom. Since these systems were not traditional trapped or neutral atoms interacting with a photon via a laser, but instead planar circuit structures, the superconducting qubit community re-coined the term cavity quantum electrodynamics to circuit quantum electrodynamics, which we will refer to as cQED.The quantum dot community adapted these methods of what is known as dispersive readout; a capacitive change of the atomic like system, results in a dispersive shift which then alters the characteristic frequency response of the resonant structure. This has allowed for a new kind of charge sensor by means of measuring the resonators response due to its coupling to a quantum dot system. This can be done with very high frequency microwave circuitry, allowing much faster readout than is capable via traditional charge sensors. Thus, allowing a pathway to implement quantum error correction schemes with reasonable times compared to any dephasing or decoherence times of the semiconductor system. Furthermore, such fast readout allows for feedback protocols to be implemented to the system to correct for certain undesirable effects due to instruments or the system itself. Our work focuses on a limit of this cQED interaction of the quantum dots to a resonant structure allowing us to do fast readout of the quantum dot charge states via a dispersive shift.The work I will demonstrate in this dissertation will be in the efforts of fast readout on the charge occupation of a double quantum dot system which is galvanically coupled to a superconducting microwave resonator. This was done in a Si/SiGe heterostructure system where I designed, simulated, and fabricated the device which was optimized to have a stronger dispersive shift signal due to an enhanced gate lever arm that couples to the resonator. I will discuss our results of attaining a minimum integration time of 34.54 ns for a unity signal to noise ratio. This demonstrates a fast readout system in the community iii which could be extended to allow for even better readout speeds with faster instruments than what were available to me for the experiment. I will further discuss our characterization of the hybrid system and how we extracted a charge noise due to charging events between the two dots in our system up to around 10 kHz. This work demonstrates a robust dispersive readout scheme which helps in the scalability of hybrid superconducting-semiconducting architectures for means of quantum information processing.
We present a theoretical analysis of the capacitance of a double quantum dot in the charge and spin qubit configurations probed at high frequencies. We find that, in general, the total capacitance of the system consists of two state-dependent terms: the quantum capacitance arising from adiabatic charge motion and the tunneling capacitance that appears when repopulation occurs at a rate comparable or faster than the probing frequency. The analysis of the capacitance lineshape as a function of externally controllable variables offers a way to characterize the qubits' charge and spin state as well as relevant system parameters such as charge and spin relaxation rates, tunnel coupling, electron temperature, and electron g factor. Overall, our analysis provides a formalism to understand dispersive qubit-resonator interactions which can be applied to high-sensitivity and noninvasive quantum-state readout.