Single-electron spin qubits defined in quantum dots are used as building blocks of a semiconductor-based quantum computer. Readout in a scaled-up version of such a quantum computer is expected to rely on the Pauli Spin Blockade (PSB) mechanism. A desired functionality of PSB readout is that it reveals two bits of information on the two spin qubits that are involved in the process, such that the four computational basis states can be discriminated. In this work, we propose and quantitatively analyze an experimental procedure, based on gate reflectometry, which enables this four-state discrimination in a single measurement. We provide an intuitive recipe to maximize the contrast between the quantum capacitances of the four basis states. Focusing on silicon double quantum dots equipped with a micromagnet, we quantify how amplifier noise and phonon-mediated relaxation influence readout fidelity. Our results highlight a realistic opportunity to mitigate the overhead of readout ancilla qubits in a spin-based quantum computer.
Single-electron spin qubits defined in quantum dots are used as building blocks of a semiconductor-based quantum computer. Readout in a scaled-up version of such a quantum computer is expected to rely on the Pauli Spin Blockade (PSB) mechanism. A desired functionality of PSB readout is that it reveals two bits of information on the two spin qubits that are involved in the process, such that the four computational basis states can be discriminated. In this work, we propose and quantitatively analyze an experimental procedure, based on gate reflectometry, which enables this four-state discrimination in a single measurement. We provide an intuitive recipe to maximize the contrast between the quantum capacitances of the four basis states. Focusing on silicon double quantum dots equipped with a micromagnet, we quantify how amplifier noise and phonon-mediated relaxation influence readout fidelity. Our results highlight a realistic opportunity to mitigate the overhead of readout ancilla qubits in a spin-based quantum computer.
Pauli-spin-blockade (PSB) measurements have so far achieved the highest fidelity of spin readout in semiconductor quantum dots, overcoming the 99% threshold. Moreover, in contrast to energy-selective readout, PSB is less error prone to thermal energy, an important feature for large-scale architectures that could be operated at temperatures above a few hundreds of millikelvins. In this work, we use rf reflectometry on a single-lead quantum dot to perform charge sensing and to probe the spin state of a double quantum dot at 0.5 K. At this relatively elevated temperature, we characterize both singlet-triplet and parity readout, which are complementary measurements to perform a complete readout of a two-spin system. We demonstrate high-fidelity spin readout with an average fidelity above 99.9 % for a readout time of 20 μs and 99 % for 4 μs. Finally, we succeed in initializing a singlet state in a single dot with a fidelity higher than 99 % and separate the two electrons while retaining the same spin state with a 95.6 % fidelity
We propose and demonstrate complete spin state readout of a two-electron system in a double quantum dot probed by an electrometer. The protocol is based on repetitive single-shot measurements using Pauli spin blockade and our ability to tune on fast timescales the detuning and the interdot tunnel coupling between the GHz and sub-Hz regime. A sequence of three distinct manipulations and measurements allows establishing if the spins are in S, T_{0}, T_{+}, or T_{−} state. This work points at a procedure to reduce the overhead for spin readout, an important challenge for scaling up spin-qubit platforms.
Abstract Fast and high-fidelity quantum state detection is essential for building robust spin-based quantum information processing platforms in semiconductors. The Pauli spin blockade (PSB)-based spin-to-charge conversion and its variants are widely used for the spin state discrimination of two-electron singlet–triplet (ST0) qubits; however, the single-shot measurement fidelity is limited by either the low signal contrast, or the short lifetime of the triplet state at the PSB energy detuning, especially due to strong mixing with singlet states at large magnetic field gradients. Ultimately, the limited single-shot measurement fidelity leads to low visibility of quantum operations. Here, we demonstrate an alternative method to achieve spin-to-charge conversion of ST0 qubit states using energy-selective tunneling between doubly occupied quantum dots (QDs) and electron reservoirs. We demonstrate a single-shot measurement fidelity of 90% and an S–T0 oscillation visibility of 81% at a field gradient of 100 mT (~500 MHz h (g*·μB)−1); this allows single-shot readout with full electron charge signal contrast and, at the same time, long and tunable measurement time with negligible effect of relaxation even at strong magnetic field gradients. Using an rf-sensor positioned opposite to the QD array, we apply this method to two ST0 qubits and show high-visibility readout of two individual single-qubit gate operations is possible with a single rf single-electron transistor sensor. We expect our measurement scheme for two-electron spin states can be applied to various hosting materials and provides a simplified and complementary route for multiple qubit state detection with high accuracy in QD-based quantum computing platforms.
Spin qubits in semiconductor quantum circuits have been identified as a compelling platform for large scale quantum computing. Today an ongoing effort of the community is aiming at the scaling of such systems by filling larger and larger arrays. In this context the development of tuning and readout protocols allowing to reduce the inherent complexity of such systems seems to be a necessity.In the first part of my thesis, I demonstrate array partitioning of a linear triple quantum dot defined in a AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure via a highly tunable interdot tunnel coupling. This allows us to operate independently smaller sections of the array which reduces the number of available charge states for the system and therefore reduces its complexity during the tuning.The second part of my thesis is focused on reducing the hardware overhead necessary to extract information during the readout of the spin qubits. In semiconductor spin qubits, high fidelity read-out is obtained through Pauli spin blockade in a double quantum dot with two electrons probed by a local electrometer. One electron is the qubit, the second is the ancilla and only one bit of information is extracted. To obtain the full two-bit information of the two-electron spin states, more quantum hardware is necessary (either dots, electrometers, or reservoirs).Based on an original protocol, I develop in this thesis a complete single-shot read-out procedure for two-electron spin states in a double quantum dot discriminating between S, T0, T+ and T-. It uses successively three distinct spin-to-charge conversion protocols interleaved with charge configuration measurements. The strategy is based on four novel experimental achievements:First, the control from the GHz to sub-Hz regime of the interdot tunnel coupling at the nanosecond timescale.Second, the separation of the spin-to-charge conversion and the charge read-out in the voltage gate space.Third, the suppression of spin relaxation process during the read-out procedure.Finally, the repetition of three distinct spin-to-charge conversion protocols.The read-out procedure is tested on various initialized populations and implemented in more complex spin manipulation sequences to assess its validity.
High-fidelity singlet-triplet state readout is essential for large-scale quantum computing. However, the widely used threshold method of comparing a mean value with the fixed threshold will limit the judgment accuracy, especially for the relaxed triplet state, under the restriction of relaxation time and signal-to-noise ratio. Here, we achieve an enhanced latching readout based on Pauli spin blockade in a Si-MOS double quantum dot device and demonstrate an average singlet-triplet-state readout fidelity of 97.59% by the threshold method. We reveal the inherent deficiency of the threshold method for the relaxed triplet-state classification and introduce machine learning as a noise-resilient and relaxation-independent readout method to reduce the misjudgment. The readout fidelity for classifying the simulated single-shot traces can be improved to 99.67% by the machine-learning method, better than the threshold method of 97.54%, which is consistent with the experimental result. This work indicates that the machine-learning method can be a strong potential candidate for alleviating the restrictions of stably achieving high-fidelity and high-accuracy singlet-triplet-state readout in large-scale quantum computing.
Joint measurements of two-Pauli observables are powerful tools for both the control and protection of quantum information. By following a simple recipe for measurement choices, single- and two- qubit rotations using two-Pauli parity and single qubit measurements are guaranteed to be unitary while requiring only a single ancilla qubit. This language for measurement based quantum computing is shown to be directly applicable to encoded double quantum dot singlet-triplet spin qubits, by measuring spin-parity between dots from neighboring qubits. Along with exchange interaction, a complete, leakage free, measurement based gate set can be shown, up to a known Pauli correction. Both theoretically exact spin-parity measurements and experimentally demonstrated asymmetric spin-parity measurements are shown to be viable for achieving the proposed measurement based scheme, provided some extra leakage mitigating measurement steps. This method of spin qubit control offers a leakage suppressed, low resource overhead implementation of a measurement-based control that is viable on current spin qubit processor devices.