Accurately modeling and simulating the single-electron spin qubit model of Loss–DiVincenzo within a semiconductor quantum dot heterostructure remains a significant challenge due to the incomplete understanding of the underlying noise processes and mechanisms. This work employs the quantum version of the Langevin equation framework, rooted in the spin-bath model theory, to systematically reframe and analyze all recognized physical noise effects. By constructing the model as a stochastic differential equation, it integrates quantum noise dynamics holistically rather than isolating specific noise effects. The primary contributors to qubit relaxation and decoherence are identified as direct spin flips, anharmonic oscillations, and random local fields. The dynamics of a single-spin qubit are presented within a semiconductor quantum dot, deliberately excluding external multi-qubit exchange interactions, which are assumed to be controlled or mitigated. The goal is to provide a detailed simulation analysis that combines various studies and bridges theory and experiments, offering a closer approximation to realistic scenarios.
Accurately modeling and simulating the single-electron spin qubit model of Loss–DiVincenzo within a semiconductor quantum dot heterostructure remains a significant challenge due to the incomplete understanding of the underlying noise processes and mechanisms. This work employs the quantum version of the Langevin equation framework, rooted in the spin-bath model theory, to systematically reframe and analyze all recognized physical noise effects. By constructing the model as a stochastic differential equation, it integrates quantum noise dynamics holistically rather than isolating specific noise effects. The primary contributors to qubit relaxation and decoherence are identified as direct spin flips, anharmonic oscillations, and random local fields. The dynamics of a single-spin qubit are presented within a semiconductor quantum dot, deliberately excluding external multi-qubit exchange interactions, which are assumed to be controlled or mitigated. The goal is to provide a detailed simulation analysis that combines various studies and bridges theory and experiments, offering a closer approximation to realistic scenarios.
The dynamics of a nuclear spin bath generates magnetic noise that is a key contributor to the decoherence of electron spin qubits in electrostatically-defined quantum dots. In this paper, we extend the cluster correlation expansion (CCE) technique, which has proven useful for predicting solid-state qubit coherence times across various settings but is limited to shorter time scales, to incorporate stochastic treatments of cluster dynamics in order to efficiently predict slow drifting Overhauser fields over longer time scales. This approach combines quantum evolution with classical rate matrices to enable simulation across a wide range of temporal regimes required to simulate, for example, the long-time convergence of the ergodic T2∗ from Ramsey experiments. Our methodology is validated against experimental data from various silicon spin qubit systems, demonstrating a strong agreement between simulation and measurement of Ramsey experiments presented in the form of T2∗ versus averaging time, autocorrelation functions, as well as power spectral densities. Furthermore, we demonstrate significant back-action effects through modeling and experiment; specifically, the dynamics of the nuclear spin bath depends upon the electron spin occupation schedule. Finally, our modeling quantitatively predicts the benefits from compensating for the slow drift of Overhauser fields in qubit operations. Our findings indicate that compensating for an Overhauser rotation measured Δt in the past results in an effective T2∗, which we denote T~2∗(Δt) for clarity, under certain scenarios of interest, can be one or two orders of magnitude larger than the ergodic T2∗ if the Overhauser rotation is re-characterized every 100 milliseconds; that is, T~2∗(Δt=100ms) can be 10 to 100 times larger than T2∗.
The spin of an electron confined in semiconductor quantum dots is currently a promising candidate for quantum bit (qubit) implementations. Taking advantage of the existing CMOS integration technologies, such devices can offer a platform for large scale quantum computation. However, a quantum mechanical framework bridging a device's physical design and operational parameters to the qubit's energy space is lacking. Furthermore, the spin to charge coupling introduced by intrinsic or induced spin-orbit interaction (SOI) exposes the qubits to charge noise compromising their coherence properties and inducing quantum gate errors. We present here a comodeling framework for double quantum dot (DQD) devices and their charge noise environments. We use a combination of an electrostatic potential solver, full configuration interaction quantum mechanical methods, and two-level-fluctuator models to study the quantum gate performance in realistic device designs and operation conditions. We utilize the developed models together alongside the single electron solutions of the quantum dots to simulate one- and two-qubit gates in the presence of charge noise. We find an inverse correlation between quantum gate errors and quantum dot confinement frequencies. We calculate X-gate fidelities >97 in the simulated Si-MOS devices at a typical TLF density of ${10}^{11}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$. We also find that exchange driven two-qubit SWAP gates show higher sensitivity to charge noise with fidelities down to 91 in the presence of the same density of TLFs. We further investigate the one- and two-qubit gate fidelities at different TLF densities. We find that given the small size of the quantum dots, sensitivity of a quantum gate to the distance between the noise sources and the quantum dot creates a strong variability in the quantum gate fidelities, which can compromise the device yields in scaled qubit technologies.
Quantum information processing in semiconductor quantum dots using single and multi-spin qubitsThe idea of a quantum computer, a device capable of processing information using quantum bits (qubit) instead of classical bits that outperforms classical computer in terms of computation speed, is still science ction. However, recent advances in quantum information processing showed that this ction may come true faster than anticipated. A promising platform for the physical realization of a qubit are spin qubits where the information is encoded in the quantum mechanical spin of an electron con ned in a semiconductor quantum dot. There are a variety of di erent implementations how the logical qubit is physically encoded, the use of a single electron spin or the use of the spins of multi electrons. This thesis focuses on the implementation of the spin- 1/2 qubit using the spin of a single electron in a single quantum dot, the exchangeonly (EO) qubit using three electron spins distributed in three quantum dots, and the novel quadrupolar exchange-only (QUEX) qubit using four electron spins distributed in three quantum dots. In this thesis we investigate several theoretical aspects of the physical implementation of the aforementioned qubit encodings. Since all three qubit encodings are allelectric controlled these implementations su er decoherence, the loss of information, from electric uctuations of the environment commonly called charge noise. Typically, the use of more quantum dots increases the decoherence due to charge noise while it decreases the decoherence due to magnetic noise. The rst main aspect investigated in this thesis is the protection of the quantum information encoded in the di erent qubit implementations against charge noise. Special attention is paid to the multi-electron spin implementations where high-symmetry points of operation are discovered which are less sensitive to the charge noise. Protection against charge noise is even better by increasing the number of electrons while keeping the number of quantum dots making the QUEX qubit superior to the EO qubit. So far the main direction in this thesis is the reduction of the qubit sensitivity to electric uctuations. However, coherent electromagnetic elds in form of microwaves v can be used to interconnect qubits. In this thesis also a high-performance coupling between two spin-1/2 is investigated. The use of a resonator, subsequently, allows for a coupling of qubits over macroscopic distances as well as to extract valuable information about the physical system. Because of the larger susceptibility of multi-spin qubits to the electric eld of the resonator, this thesis focuses on the coupling between an EO or a QUEX qubit and a microwave resonator. Points of operations are discovered for both qubit implementations which o er a strong coupling towards a microwave resonator while maintaining their protection against charge noise. Subsequently, a series of measurements are proposed to extract information about the microscopic structure of the quantum dots. Finally, a promising high-performance protocol for coupling two qubits remotely via the resonator is investigated in detail.
We report on our recent progress in applying semiconductor quantum dots for spin-based quantum computation, as proposed by Loss and DiVincenzo (1998 Phys. Rev. A 57 120). For the purpose of single-electron spin resonance, we study different types of single quantum dot devices that are designed for the generation of a local ac magnetic field in the vicinity of the dot. We observe photon-assisted tunnelling as well as pumping due to the ac voltage induced by the ac current driven through a wire in the vicinity of the dot, but no evidence for ESR so far. Analogue concepts for a double quantum dot and the hydrogen molecule are discussed in detail. Our experimental results in laterally coupled vertical double quantum dot device show that the Heitler–London model forms a good approximation of the two-electron wavefunction. The exchange coupling constant J is estimated. The relevance of this system for two-qubit gates, in particular the SWAP operation, is discussed. Density functional calculations reveal the importance of the gate electrode geometry in lateral quantum dots for the tunability of J in realistic two-qubit gates.
The growing interest in quantum computers has triggered various approaches for the realization of a large-scale quantum processor that can eventually outperform classical high-performance computers. Quantum computers are attracting increasing attention for their potential to enormously accelerate the simulation of quantum systems and the solution of optimization problems, promising an immense impact, particularly in fields such as chemistry, medicine, and cybersecurity. Although it is still a long way to a practical quantum device, the progress over the last decades has shown encouraging results for a so far limited number of quantum bits, or qubits for short, which represent the computational units of the processor. One promising platform for the implementation of qubits is the spin of charge carriers in semiconductor quantum dots. Especially the use of purified silicon as a host material has significantly improved the performance of quantum operations. Advanced fabrication techniques from the established semiconductor industry in principle allow for the manufacturing of a large number of qubits on a small chip, making them specifically competitive from the perspective of scalability. In this thesis, we investigate challenges for electron spin qubits, particularly in the context of scaling to large qubit arrays for quantum computation. We evaluate the performance of quantum gates, present error mitigation strategies, and propose new quantum operations for two particular spin qubit implementations. In a dense array of Loss-DiVincenzo spin qubits on a chip, quantum information can be electrically controlled by microwave pulses. For neighboring qubits, capacitive couplings of nearby electrodes lead to crosstalk that affects the quantum computation. The first examination in this thesis addresses the effect of crosstalk on idling and operating spin qubits due to an interfering microwave drive. After the analysis and characterization of the performance, we suggest mitigation protocols for different constellations of important quantum gates, which can be easily implemented experimentally. We further show how to reduce crosstalk in a two-qubit gate using an asymmetric driving scheme, resulting in an enormous improvement of the gate performance, and may be used to generally overcome the obstacle of crosstalk. An additional source of errors in spin qubit registers originates from the finite residual exchange interaction between neighboring qubits. It arises due to a finite overlap of the electron wave functions and is caused by the limited speed at which the applied voltages can be controlled. We evaluate the fidelity of doing quantum operations under these circumstances with a varying number of neighboring qubits and present robust mitigation schemes with a decent performance also in the presence of noise. Besides crosstalk, another crucial observation in experiments using microwaves is the heating caused by the delivery of high-power radio frequency pulses to the quantum chip and results in a change of the qubit properties. We therefore investigate the impact of phonons on the energy levels in spin qubits to identify a temperature-dependent correction to the qubit state splitting. As microwave pulses are associated with potential errors, exchange-only qubits represent a promising alternative to achieve universal quantum computation only using baseband control. Therefore, we shift our focus towards exchange-only qubits and outline the main error sources in these systems, including residual exchange interactions between spins, charge noise from the applied voltages, and magnetic fluctuations in the material. A consequential complication of this implementation is that the quantum information can leak out of the qubit states. This effect, however, can be reduced in the presence of a finite magnetic field, as we will demonstrate in this thesis. The gate construction for exchange-only qubits usually requires more pulse steps than in the previous qubit type. Nevertheless, if exchange interactions are switched on simultaneously, this can result in faster quantum gates, as we demonstrate in this thesis. Especially the discovery of a quantum operation that introduces relative phases between computational and leakage states can be of interest for the construction of two-qubit gates and will be discussed in an example for a special operation space.
Abstract — We review results in theoretical modeling of quantum systems in support of the studies of decoherence and qubit interactions for quantum information processing. The developed modeling tools have been applied to semiconductor materials and nanostructures that show promise for implementation of coherent, controlled quantum dynamics at the level of registers of several quantum bits (qubits), such as spins. Field-theoretical techniques have been utilized to address decoherence and more generally the origin and effects of quantum noise and the loss of entanglement in quantum dynamics of qubits and several-qubit registers. Qubit coupling mechanisms via the indirect exchange interaction have been investigated, and quantum computing designs have been evaluated for scalability. We also describe general and specific research challenges, the solution of which will advance the field of modeling “open quantum systems ” to further our understanding of how environmental influences affect quantum coherence and its loss during quantum dynamics.