Quantum computing with silicon technology

The silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor is the workhorse of the microelectronics industry. It is the building block of all major electronic information processing components such as microprocessors, memory chips and telecommunications microcircuits. By shrinking its size generation after generation, the computational performance, memory capacity and information processing speed has increased relentlessly. However, the process of miniaturization is bound to reach its fundamental physical limits in the next decades. Paradoxically, silicon technology itself is a promising platform for quantum computing. Several recent demonstrations have shown single- and two-qubit gate fidelities exceeding the requirements for fault-tolerant thresholds [1–3]. Moreover, silicon quantum circuits present dense scaling potential [4,5] and can use advanced manufacturing [6,7] facilitating the integration with cryogenic classical electronics [8].

In this talk, I will review the field of silicon-based quantum computing going from the basic physics that govern spin qubits in this material, all the way to the technological implementation, the state-of-the-art and the scaling challenges ahead. Finally, I will present our recent work on electron spin qubit devices fabricated using 300-mm wafer processes, including the demonstration of single- and two-qubit gates [9], high-fidelity spin readout and the rapid characterisation of >1000 quantum devices [10].

[1] X. Xue, Nature 601 343 (2022)
[2] A. Noiri, Nature 601 338 (2022)
[3] A. R. Mills Sci. Adv. 8, 14 (2022)
[4] M. Veldhorst, Nat. Commun. 8, 1766 (2017)
[5] O. Crawford, npj Quant Info (2023)
[6] R. Maurand Nat. Commun. 7, 13575 (2016)
[7] A. M. J. Zwerver, Nat Elect 5, 184 (2022)
[8] A. Ruffino, Nat Elect 5 53 (2022)
[9] J. Chittock-Wood, arxiv2408.01241v2
[10] E. Thomas, arvix:2310.20434 (2023), accepted in Nat Electron