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arXiv:2303.17734 · Science

Room-Temperature Quantum Bit Storage Exceeding 39 Minutes Using Ionized Donors in Silicon-28

K. Saeedi, Stephanie Simmons, Jeff Z. Salvail, Phillip Dluhy, Helge P. Riemann, Nikolai V. Abrosimov, Peter Becker, Hans-Joachim Pohl, John J. L. Morton, Mike L. W. Thewalt

Published Nov 14, 2013• 400 citations
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Abstract

Quantum memories capable of storing and retrieving coherent information for extended times at room temperature would enable a host of new technologies. Electron and nuclear spin qubits using shallow neutral donors in semiconductors have been studied extensively but are limited to low temperatures (≲10 kelvin); however, the nuclear spins of ionized donors have the potential for high-temperature operation. We used optical methods and dynamical decoupling to realize this potential for an ensemble of phosphorous-31 donors in isotopically purified silicon-28 and observed a room-temperature coherence time of over 39 minutes. We further showed that a coherent spin superposition can be cycled from 4.2 kelvin to room temperature and back, and we report a cryogenic coherence time of 3 hours in the same system.

DOI
10.1126/science.1239584

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Quantum memories capable of storing and retrieving coherent information for extended times at room temperature would enable a host of new technologies. Electron and nuclear spin qubits using shallow neutral donors in semiconductors have been studied extensively but are limited to low temperatures (≲10 kelvin); however, the nuclear spins of ionized donors have the potential for high-temperature operation. We used optical methods and dynamical decoupling to realize this potential for an ensemble of phosphorous-31 donors in isotopically purified silicon-28 and observed a room-temperature coherence time of over 39 minutes. We further showed that a coherent spin superposition can be cycled from 4.2 kelvin to room temperature and back, and we report a cryogenic coherence time of 3 hours in the same system.
Stable quantum bits, capable both of storing quantum information for macroscopic time scales and of integration inside small portable devices, are an essential building block for an array of potential applications. We demonstrate high-fidelity control of a solid-state qubit, which preserves its polarization for several minutes and features coherence lifetimes exceeding 1 second at room temperature. The qubit consists of a single (13)C nuclear spin in the vicinity of a nitrogen-vacancy color center within an isotopically purified diamond crystal. The long qubit memory time was achieved via a technique involving dissipative decoupling of the single nuclear spin from its local environment. The versatility, robustness, and potential scalability of this system may allow for new applications in quantum information science.
Abstract Long coherence times and fast gate operations are desirable but often conflicting requirements for physical qubits. This conflict can be resolved by resorting to fast qubits for operations, and by storing their state in a ‘quantum memory’ while idle. The 31 P donor in silicon comes naturally equipped with a fast qubit (the electron spin) and a long-lived qubit (the 31 P nuclear spin), coexisting in a bound state at cryogenic temperatures. Here, we demonstrate storage and retrieval of quantum information from a single donor electron spin to its host phosphorus nucleus in isotopically enriched 28 Si. The fidelity of the memory process is characterised via both state and process tomography. We report an overall process fidelity F p ≈ 81 %, and memory storage times up to 80 ms. These values are limited by a transient shift of the electron spin resonance frequency following high-power radiofrequency pulses.
Robust entanglement at room temperature is a central challenge for solid-state quantum information processing and quantum-enhanced sensing. Here we demonstrate room-temperature storage of entanglement in a silicon carbide (SiC) quantum node by coherently transferring an electron-nuclear entangled state onto long-lived nuclear-spin memory qubits. Using a shallow single color center in 4H-SiC, conventionally denoted PL6, we realize a fully addressable three-qubit register composed of one electron-spin processor and two strongly coupled 29^{29}29Si nuclear-spin memory qubits. This platform enables the deterministic generation of high-fidelity entangled states, including a nuclear-spin Bell state with a fidelity of 94±2%94 \pm 2\%94±2% and a three-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ)-type state with a fidelity of 89±4%89 \pm 4\%89±4%. By implementing a SWAP-gate protocol in the strong hyperfine-coupling regime, the electron-nuclear entanglement is transferred to the nuclear-spin memory with a fidelity of 92.5±2.5%92.5 \pm 2.5\%92.5±2.5%, extending the entanglement lifetime by a factor of 240. We further confirm the generality of this approach in an additional heterogeneous 29^{29}29Si-13^{13}13C nuclear-spin register and, through a statistical survey of 200 single PL6 centers, show that multi-nuclear-spin registers occur naturally with probabilities above 10%. These results position shallow SiC color centers as a powerful platform for entanglement-assisted quantum sensing and scalable room-temperature quantum technologies.
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Spins in nuclear-spin-free solid state systems such as isotopically purified 28Si have seen extensive research as candidates for quantum information storage and processing, thanks to their long spin coherence lifetimes [1]. Strongly coupling such spins to a high Q superconducting resonator provides a route to develop microwave quantum memories. Bismuth donor spins can be tuned to so-called ‘clock transitions’, which, due to their insensitivity to magnetic field noise, can have electron spin coherence times as long as 3 seconds [2]. The system also possesses ‘hyperfine clock transitions’, which are insensitive to changes in the hyperfine coupling constant, and which may mitigate the effects of strain on the transition. Achieving coupling to such transitions requires resonators which are both magnetic-field resilient, and frequency tuneable. This thesis outlines the work done towards realising a quantum memory using Bi donors in silicon, from resonator design and fabrication, coupling these to implanted Bi spins in silicon and tuning to various clock transitions, through to storage and retrieval of few-photon excitations in a spin ensemble and their retrieval over 100 ms later.
Whilst quantum computing has recently taken great leaps ahead, the development of quantum memories has decidedly lagged behind. Quantum memories are essential devices in the quantum technology palette and are needed for intermediate storage of quantum bit states and as quantum repeaters in long-distance quantum communication. Current quantum memories operate at cryogenic, mostly sub-Kelvin temperatures and require extensive and costly peripheral hardware. It is demonstrated that ensembles of weakly coupled molecular spins show long coherence times and can be used to store microwave pulses of arbitrary phase. These studies exploit strong coupling of the spin ensemble to special 3D microwave resonators. Most importantly, these systems operate at room temperature.