Silicon And Silicon Germanium Epitaxy For Quantum Dot Device Fabrications Towards An Electron Spin Based Quantum Computer

Quantum computing in nanoscale silicon heterostructures has received much attention, both from the scientific community and private industry, largely due to compatibility with highly-developed silicon-based device fabrication and design present in essentially all aspects of modern life. Breakthroughs in quantum control and coupled qubit systems in silicon in the last five years have accelerated scientific research in this area, with gate-defined quantum dots at the forefront of this effort. As techniques for quantum control become more sophisticated, subtle details of the silicon band structure are now of vital importance for the ultimate success of silicon quantum computing. Chief among these band features are the valley states, regions of the conduction band that form the ground state and a nearly degenerate excited state in quantum dot heterostructures. These valley states and their effects on electron dynamics can lead to quantum information loss and qubit decoherence, and so detailed characterization of the valleys is of great importance. In this work, I first describe a spectroscopic technique utilizing fast voltage pulses on one or two gates in a double quantum dot device to precisely measure the relevant valley state energies in both quantum dots as well as the coupling between valley states and electron orbital states. With this information, the valley states are leveraged to form a novel qubit basis with innate protection against decoherence from charge noise. Sub-nanosecond operations on this "valley qubit" are used to demonstrate complete quantum control. Finally, using real-time read-out of energy-selective tunneling in a single quantum dot, pure valley state coherence in the form of intervalley relaxation is directly probed. This relaxation is subsequently linked to spin-valley electron dynamics and the observance of a valley-dependent tunneling process is discussed theoretically using tight-binding formalism.

The past few decades of research and development in solid-state semicon ductor physics and electronics have witnessed a rapid growth in the drive to exploit quantum mechanics in the design and function of semiconductor devices. This has been fueled for instance by the remarkable advances in our ability to fabricate nanostructures such as quantum wells, quantum wires and quantum dots. Despite this contemporary focus on semiconductor "quantum devices," a principal quantum mechanical aspect of the electron - its spin has it accounts for an added quan largely been ignored (except in as much as tum mechanical degeneracy). In recent years, however, a new paradigm of electronics based on the spin degree of freedom of the electron has begun to emerge. This field of semiconductor "spintronics" (spin transport electron ics or spin-based electronics) places electron spin rather than charge at the very center of interest. The underlying basis for this new electronics is the intimate connection between the charge and spin degrees of freedom of the electron via the Pauli principle. A crucial implication of this relationship is that spin effects can often be accessed through the orbital properties of the electron in the solid state. Examples for this are optical measurements of the spin state based on the Faraday effect and spin-dependent transport measure ments such as giant magneto-resistance (GMR). In this manner, information can be encoded in not only the electron's charge but also in its spin state, i. e.

Abstract: As CMOS dimensions decrease each year, the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) encourages development of "emerging research devices" to eventually replace CMOS. SiGe-based quantum dots, the focus of this study, are attractive because they can be integrated with existing Si -based devices and fabricated using existing processes. This process exploits self-limiting effects in Si nanopillar oxidation and Ge segregation during SiGe oxidation to fabricate uniformly sized Ge quantum dots suitable for room temperature operation. In this study, four fabrication processes were investigated: electron-beam lithography (EBL), inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) etching, thermal oxidation, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The samples consisted of rows of closely spaced Si nanopillars, with diameters of 25-100 nm and heights of 80-600 nm.

stacked QD structure and is useful for examining the possibility of all optical measurement of stacked QD layers. Optical absorption spectra of self-assembled QDs has been little reported, and further investigation in necessary to study hole-burning memory. 2.5 Summary This chapter describes recent advances in quantum dot fabrication tech nologies, focusing on our self-formed quantum dot technologies including TSR quantum dots and SK-mode self-assembled quantum dots. As is described in this chapter, there are many possible device applications such as quantum dot tunneling memory devices, quantum dot fioating-dot gate FETs, quantum dot lasers, and quantum dot hole-burning memory devices. The quantum dot laser applications seem to be the most practicable among these applications. However, many problems remain to be solved before even this application becomes practical. The most important issue is to of self-assembled quantum dots more pre control the size and position cisely, with an accuracy on an atomic scale. The confinement must be enough to keep the separation energy between quantized energy levels high enough to get high-temperature characteristics. The lasing oscillation frequency should be fixed at 1.3 f.lITl or 1.5 f.lITl for optical communication. Phonon bottleneck problems should be solved by the optimization of device structures. Fortunately, there is much activity in the area of quantum dot lasers and, therefore, many breakthroughs will be made, along with the exploration of other new application areas.

Quantum computing - leveraging quantum phenomena to perform complex and otherwise intractable computational problems - has rapidly progressed from a theoretical aspiration to a potential reality. Currently, there are many competing approaches to the way the physical qubits (quantum bits) are built, from trapped ions, to superconducting circuits, to semiconductor quantum dots, and beyond. Here, we focus on quantum dots, where electrons or holes are confined within a semiconductor and the quantized nature of charge and spin are utilized for computation. Within the field of quantum dots, heterostructures made of silicon and silicon-germanium are especially enticing due to their low density of defects and nuclear spin. Although quantum dots are a promising avenue for quantum computation because of their intrinsically small size and similarity to classical transistors, nearly every aspect of their design, realization, and control has yet to be fully optimized.This thesis explores modifications to the heterostructure, fabrication, and measurement of Si/SiGe quantum dots in the pursuit of improved quantum dot qubits. The valley splitting in silicon quantum dots, a near degeneracy of the lowest lying energy states, is critical to the formation and performance of silicon qubits. In this work, we present several modifications to the Si/SiGe heterostructure in an effort to enhance this splitting. In particular, we investigate the effects of introducing germanium to the silicon quantum well by the inclusion of a single spike in germanium concentration or an oscillatory concentration throughout the well. We present experimental measurements of the energy spectrum arising from both modifications and, coupled with theoretical support, demonstrate enhancements to the valley splitting. Next, we present several fabrication techniques with the goal of improved quantum dot functionality and lowered charge noise, a major barrier to higher quality devices. We report a new strategy for etched-palladium fabrication and discuss the current progress. Finally, we present work towards the automation of quantum dot tuning. As quantum dot devices increase in the number of qubits, so do the number of electrostatic gates which control the device. We discuss the development of automated tuning procedures and present a procedure for the formation of well-controlled quantum dots from initial voltage settings.

Quantum computing is predicted to provide unprecedented enhancements in computational power. A quantum computer requires implementation of a well-defined and controlled quantum system of many interconnected qubits, each defined using fragile quantum states. The interest in a spin-based quantum computer in silicon stems from demonstrations of very long spin-coherence times, high-fidelity single spin control and compatibility with industrial mass-fabrication. Industrial scale fabrication of the silicon platform offers a clear route towards a large-scale quantum computer, however, some of the processes and techniques employed in qubit demonstrators are incompatible with a dense and foundry-fabricated architecture. In particular, spin-readout utilises external sensors that require nearly the same footprint as qubit devices. In this thesis, improved readout techniques for silicon quantum devices are presented and routes towards implementation of a scalable and high-sensitivity readout architecture are investigated. Firstly, readout sensitivity of compact gate-based sensors is improved using a high-quality factor resonator and Josephson parametric amplifier that are fabricated separately from quantum dots. Secondly, an integrated transistor-based control circuit is presented using which sequential readout of two quantum dot devices using the same gate-based sensor is achieved. Finally, a large-scale readout architecture based on random-access and frequency multiplexing is introduced. The impact of readout circuit footprint on readout sensitivity is determined, showing routes towards integration of conventional circuits with quantum devices in a dense architecture, and a fault-tolerant architecture based on mediated exchange is introduced, capable of relaxing the limitations on available control circuit footprint per qubit. Demonstrations are based on foundry-fabricated transistors and few-electron quantum dots, showing that industry fabrication is a viable route towards quantum computation at a scale large enough to begin addressing the most challenging computational problems.

Technology of Quantum Devices offers a multi-disciplinary overview of solid state physics, photonics and semiconductor growth and fabrication. Readers will find up-to-date coverage of compound semiconductors, crystal growth techniques, silicon and compound semiconductor device technology, in addition to intersubband and semiconductor lasers. Recent findings in quantum tunneling transport, quantum well intersubband photodetectors (QWIP) and quantum dot photodetectors (QWDIP) are described, along with a thorough set of sample problems.

With the rapid progress in nanofabrication, scientists and researchers are now able to make lateral quantum dots in semiconductor materials. The few electrons confined in these quantum dots provide the possibility of realizing a qubit, the building block of a quantum computer. Tremendous effort has been put in the solid state quantum information field in the last ten years of making single electron spin qubit or singlet triplet qubit based on two electron spin. However, the operation of these types of qubit requires additional engineering by either integrating a microwave loop or an external magnet to creat field difference. This thesis project was inspired by DiVincenzo's proposal of developing qubit based on three electrons controlled by Heisenberg exchange interactions only, which is called "exchange-only" qubit. All the qubit operation can be done in principle via electrical pulses only. We proposed to make the triple quantum device in silicon system. This type of device will have small qubit decoherence, easy integration to industry infrustructure and great chance of scaling up to a real quantum computer. We developed and fabricated the electrostatically defined triple quantum dot (TQD) device in a silicon metal-oxide-oxide structure. We characterized its electrostatic properties using a quantum point contact charge sensing channel nearby. We are be able to obtain the charge stability diagram in the last few elelctron regime that provides the experimental basis of forming a exchange only qubit. We demonstrated the tunability of the TQD by acheiving the quadruple points where all three dots are on resonance. This is the first experimental demonstration of well controlled triple quantum dot device in silicon system. The constant interaction model and the hubbard model for triple quantum dot system are developed to help understand the electrostatic dynamics. Tunnel couplings between quantum dots, which determines the exchange interactions, are extracted using various fitting methods. We implemented the qubit manipulation with three quantum dots in both a linearly and a triangularly arranged geometry. For the first time, we observed coherent oscillation in the Si MOS based triple quantum dot device with oscillation frequency of 2MHz and 7MHz. We suspect the these oscillations are related with spin dynamics in our system. These experimental investigations demonstrate that we have the ability to develop triple quantum dot device for exchange ony qubit and the potential to perform qubit operation in the future.

This book highlights state-of-the-art qubit implementations in semiconductors and provides an extensive overview of this newly emerging field. Semiconductor nanostructures have huge potential as future quantum information devices as they provide various ways of qubit implementation (electron spin, electronic excitation) as well as a way to transfer quantum information from stationary qubits to flying qubits (photons). Therefore, this book unites contributions from leading experts in the field, reporting cutting-edge results on spin qubit preparation, read-out and transfer. The latest theoretical as well as experimental studies of decoherence in these quantum information systems are also provided. Novel demonstrations of complex flying qubit states and first applications of semiconductor-based quantum information devices are given, too.