A photonic link for silicon donor-based quantum technologies

用于基于硅供体的量子技术的光子链路

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-05525
• 负责人: Simmons, Stephanie
• 金额: $ 2.33万
• 依托单位: Simon Fraser University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=615747
• 关键词: photonic; link; silicon; donor; based

Silicon transistors, the essential building block of most modern electronic devices, cannot shrink much further without being rendered inoperable by quantum mechanics. This classical-quantum threshold in fact presents a tremendous opportunity: if we harness quantum mechanics, rather than attempt to avoid it, we could build a quantum computer, which could accomplish certain computational tasks that would otherwise be forever impractical. Numerous fundamental calculations for drug simulations, big-data optimization, linear algebra, machine learning, and more, would become exponentially faster and therefore possible to solve on a realistic timescale. One of the most promising candidate quantum bits (‘qubits’) are made from donor impurities in silicon: the very atomic defects preventing the smallest transistors from working properly. I have shown that these qubits have the longest solid-state lifetimes (>3 hrs) and the best solid-state quantum control properties (>99.9% accuracy) ever demonstrated. These excellent individual qubits also have key commercial advantages: they are atomically identical, and can be fabricated using the same techniques used to build modern silicon transistors. This is important because quantum computers will still need on-chip integrated “classical” computing power to operate effectively. What is urgently lacking is a reliable way to build connections, or ‘couplings’, between these atomic quantum bits — we need to invent something equivalent to a quantum transistor in silicon. My proposed solution to accomplish this is radically new. I plan to link silicon atomic qubits by mediating their interactions via photon qubits. This can be done in a number of ways: one way is to swap the quantum information between the atomic and photonic qubits. This strategy will make use of photonic structures in silicon which can, for example, direct light along predetermined paths within a silicon device. These structures, which are very similar to the ones developed for fibre-optics devices, could reliably link multiple atomic qubits. The designs are simple and the experimental tolerances are large. The biggest risk to my research plan is its urgency — the first research group to demonstrate a quantum transistor in silicon would gain an insurmountable first-mover advantage. The success of this research plan would launch silicon atomic qubits to the frontrunner position in the international race toward a large-scale quantum computer. The resulting revolution in computing power would have an enormous effect on the whole world, in ways we cannot yet predict. Imagine predicting the ubiquity of modern information technology based only on an evaluation of the first, huge, power-hungry, vacuum-tube-based digital computer in 1946. If quantum-information transistors can be developed for silicon, it will pave the way for silicon to revolutionize the information age once again.

硅晶体管是大多数现代电子设备的基本组成部分，如果不被量子力学变得无法操作，就无法进一步缩小，这个经典量子阈值实际上提供了一个巨大的机会：如果我们利用量子力学，而不是试图避免它，我们可以建造一台量子计算机，它可以完成某些永远不切实际的计算任务，药物模拟、大数据优化、线性代数、机器学习等的许多基本计算将变得指数级更快，因此可以解决。在现实的时间尺度。 最有前途的候选量子位（“量子位”）是由硅中的施主杂质制成的：正是原子缺陷阻碍了最小的晶体管正常工作，我已经证明这些量子位具有最长的固态寿命（> 3小时）。 ）以及有史以来最好的固态量子控制特性（>99.9% 的准确度），这些优秀的单个量子位还具有关键的商业优势：它们在原子上是相同的，并且可以使用与构建相同的技术来制造。这很重要，因为量子计算机仍然需要片上集成的“经典”计算能力才能有效运行。 目前急需的是在这些原子量子比特之间建立连接或“耦合”的可靠方法——我们需要发明一种相当于硅中量子晶体管的东西，我计划将其连接起来。通过光子量子位调节硅原子量子位的相互作用可以通过多种方式来实现：一种方法是在原子和光子量子位之间交换量子信息。例如，这些结构与为光纤器件开发的结构非常相似，可以沿着硅器件内的预定路径引导光，可以可靠地连接多个原子量子位。设计简单，实验公差小。我的研究计划面临的最大风险是它的紧迫性——第一个展示硅量子晶体管的研究小组将获得不可逾越的先发优势。 这项研究计划的成功将使硅原子量子比特在大规模量子计算机的国际竞赛中处于领先地位，由此产生的计算能力革命将以我们尚无法预测的方式对整个世界产生巨大影响。想象一下，仅仅根据 1946 年第一台巨大、耗电、基于真空管的数字计算机的评估来预测现代信息技术的普及。如果可以为硅开发量子信息晶体管，它将铺平道路硅再次彻底改变信息时代。