Electron spin qubit transport and fault-tolerant architectures for Si:P quantum computing
Lloyd C. L. Hollenberg, Andrew D. Greentree, Cameron J. Wellard, Austin G. Fowler, Simon J. Devitt, Jared H. Cole, Am Stephens
Abstract
Solid state quantum computer architectures are often touted as inherently scalable on the basis of proven classical architecture miniaturisation - i.e. through sheer ease of component replication. However, this weak scaling argument misses the vast complexity of the implementation of fault-tolerant quantum protocols required to protect quantum information processing against errors. In a successful design of strongly scalable quantum computer architecture, highly non-trivial requirements such as qubit transport, logic gates for physically separated qubits, fast read-out and resources for classical processing and error correction must be incorporated. We review a new adiabatic scheme coherent (spin) transport by adiabatic passage (CTAP) for physical qubit transport particularly suited to atomic and solid-state systems. The tunnelling rates, transfer times and the effects of decoherence are calculated for CTAP using phosphorous donors in silicon. Using CTAP qubit transport we have proposed a bi-linear donor electron spin architecture with potential for scale-up to fault-tolerant operation. This architecture allows for the distribution of interaction, storage and readout regions and incorporates non-nearest-neighbour interactions between qubits. The transport rails which provide these non-local interactions, also provide alternative pathways to avoid non-functioning regions. The key questions under investigation are whether one can: perform fault-tolerant quantum computation on such an architecture, and determine quantitative estimates of the fault-tolerant threshold.