In this dissertation, resonator-based readout techniques were developed for floating electrons as qubits on cryogenic substrates, using two platforms: electrons on liquid helium and electrons on solid neon. In addition, a cryogenic microwave source was developed to enable low-noise measurement for qubit readout.
In this review, we introduce a developing qubit platform: floating-electron-based qubits. Electrons floating in a vacuum above the surface of liquid helium or solid neon emerge as promising candidates for qubits, especially due to their expected long coherence times. Despite being in the early stages, a variety of recent experiments from different groups have shown substantial potential in this role. We survey a range of theoretical proposals and recent experiments, primarily focusing on the use of the spin state as the qubit state, wherein the spin and charge states are hybridized. Throughout these proposals and experiments, the charge state is coupled to an LC resonator, which facilitates both the control and readout mechanisms for the spin state via an artificially introduced spin–charge coupling.
Electrons trapped on the surface of cryogenic substrates (liquid helium, solid neon, or hydrogen) are an emerging platform for quantum information processing made attractive by the inherent purity of the electron environment, the scalability of trapping devices, and the predicted long lifetime of electron spin states. Here we demonstrate the spatial control and detection of single electrons above the surface of liquid helium at temperatures above 1 K. A superconducting coplanar waveguide resonator is used to read out the charge state of an electron trap defined by gate electrodes beneath the helium surface. Dispersive frequency shifts are observed as the trap is loaded with electrons, from several tens down to single electrons. These frequency shifts are in good agreement with our theoretical model that treats each electron as a classical oscillator coupled to the cavity field. This sensitive charge readout scheme can aid efforts to develop large-scale quantum processors that require the high cooling powers available in cryostats operating above 1 K.
Electrons trapped above cryogenic substrates such as liquid helium and solid neon form exceptionally clean physical systems, since they reside in vacuum and are largely isolated from environmental noise. A recent breakthrough has been the realization of charge qubits using electrons on solid neon surfaces, with coherence times reaching T2 = 2T1 ≈ 100 µs. In this article, we describe in detail the preparation of cryogenic substrates, electron deposition and the measurement of electron mobility. We further discuss the differences in surface morphology between helium and neon, their impact on mobility and qubit performance, and emphasize the necessity of systematic surface characterization as a means to optimize cryogenic substrate preparation and electron deposition.
The promise of quantum computing has driven a persistent quest for new qubit platforms with long coherence, fast operation, and large scalability. Electrons, ubiquitous elementary particles of nonzero charge, spin, and mass, have commonly been perceived as paradigmatic local quantum information carriers. Despite superior controllability and configurability, their practical performance as qubits via either motional or spin states depends critically on their material environment. Here we report our experimental realization of a new qubit platform based upon isolated single electrons trapped on an ultraclean solid neon surface in vacuum. By integrating an electron trap in a circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture, we achieve strong coupling between the motional states of a single electron and microwave photons in an on-chip superconducting resonator. Qubit gate operations and dispersive readout are used to measure the energy relaxation time T1 of 15μs and phase coherence time T2 over 200 ns, indicating that the electron-on-solid-neon qubit already performs near the state of the art as a charge qubit.
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.