Vanishing Zeeman energy in a two-dimensional hole gas

A clear signature of Zeeman split states crossing is observed in a Landau fan diagram of strained germanium two-dimensional hole gas. The underlying mechanisms are discussed based on a perturbative model yielding a closed formula for the critical magnetic fields. These fields depend strongly on the energy difference between the topmost and neighboring valence bands and are sensitive to the quantum well thickness, strain, and spin-orbit interaction. The latter is a necessary feature for the crossing to occur. This framework enables a straightforward quantification of the hole-state parameters from simple measurements, thus paving the way for its use in design and modeling of hole-based quantum devices.QCD/Scappucci LabQuTechBusiness Developmen

Plasmon-enhanced Ge-based metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector at near-IR wavelengths

We demonstrate the use of plasmonic effects to boost the near-infrared sensitivity of metal-semiconductor-metal detectors. Plasmon-enhanced photodetection is achieved by properly optimizing Au interdigitated electrodes, micro-fabricated on Ge, a semiconductor that features a strong near IR absorption. Finite-difference time-domain simulations, photocurrent experiments and Fourier-transform IR spectroscopy are performed to validate how a relatively simple tuning of the contact geometry allows for an enhancement of the response of the device adapting it to the specific detection needs. A 2-fold gain factor in the Ge absorption characteristics is experimentally demonstrated at 1.4 µm, highlighting the potential of this approach for optoelectronic and sensing applications.QCD/Scappucci La

Lightly strained germanium quantum wells with hole mobility exceeding one million

We demonstrate that a lightly strained germanium channel (ϵ / / = - 0.41 %) in an undoped Ge/Si0.1Ge0.9 heterostructure field effect transistor supports a two-dimensional (2D) hole gas with mobility in excess of 1 × 10 6 cm2/Vs and percolation density less than 5 × 10 10 cm-2. This low disorder 2D hole system shows tunable fractional quantum Hall effects at low densities and low magnetic fields. The low-disorder and small effective mass (0.068 m e) defines lightly strained germanium as a basis to tune the strength of the spin-orbit coupling for fast and coherent quantum hardware. QCD/Scappucci LabQuTechBUS/TNO STAFFQN/Veldhorst La

Valley Splitting in Silicon from the Interference Pattern of Quantum Oscillations

We determine the energy splitting of the conduction-band valleys in two-dimensional electrons confined in silicon metal oxide semiconductor Hall-bar transistors. These silicon metal oxide semiconductor Hall bars are made by advanced semiconductor manufacturing on 300 mm silicon wafers and support a two-dimensional electron gas of high quality with a maximum mobility of 17.6×103 cm2/Vs and minimum percolation density of 3.45×1010 cm-2. Because of the low disorder, we observe beatings in the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations that arise from the energy splitting of the two low-lying conduction band valleys. From the analysis of the oscillations beating patterns up to T=1.7 K, we estimate a maximum valley splitting of ?EVS=8.2 meV at a density of 6.8×1012 cm-2. Furthermore, the valley splitting increases with density at a rate consistent with theoretical predictions for a near-ideal semiconductor-oxide interface. QCD/Scappucci LabQuTec

Wafer-scale low-disorder 2DEG in ²⁸Si/SiGe without an epitaxial Si cap

We grow 28Si/SiGe heterostructures by reduced-pressure chemical vapor deposition and terminate the stack without an epitaxial Si cap but with an amorphous Si-rich layer obtained by exposing the SiGe barrier to dichlorosilane at 500 °C. As a result, 28Si/SiGe heterostructure field-effect transistors feature a sharp semiconductor/dielectric interface and support a two-dimensional electron gas with enhanced and more uniform transport properties across a 100 mm wafer. At T = 1.7 K, we measure a high mean mobility of (1.8 ± 0.5) × 10 5 cm2/V s and a low mean percolation density of (9 ± 1) × 10 10 cm-2. From the analysis of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations at T = 190 mK, we obtain a long mean single particle relaxation time of (8.1 ± 0.5) ps, corresponding to a mean quantum mobility and quantum level broadening of (7.5 ± 0.6) × 10 4 cm2/V s and (40 ± 3) μ eV, respectively, and a small mean Dingle ratio of (2.3 ± 0.2), indicating reduced scattering from long range impurities and a low-disorder environment for hosting high-performance spin-qubits.Accepted Author ManuscriptQCD/Scappucci LabQuTechBUS/TNO STAF

Low percolation density and charge noise with holes in germanium

We engineer planar Ge/SiGe heterostructures for low disorder and quiet hole quantum dot operation by positioning the strained Ge channel 55 nm below the semiconductor/dielectric interface. In heterostructure field effect transistors, we measure a percolation density for two-dimensional hole transport of 2.1 × 10 10 cm−2 , indicative of a very low disorder potential landscape experienced by holes in the buried Ge channel. These Ge heterostructures support quietoperation of hole quantum dots and we measure an average charge noise level of √SE = 0.6 μeV/√Hz at 1 Hz, with the lowest level below our detection limit√SE = 0.2 μeV/√Hz. These results establish planar Ge as a promising platform for scaledtwo-dimensional spin qubit arraysQCD/Scappucci LabQuTechQCD/Veldhorst LabQCD/Vandersypen LabQN/Vandersypen LabBUS/TNO STAFFQN/Veldhorst La

Light effective hole mass in undoped Ge/SiGe quantum wells

We report density-dependent effective hole mass measurements in undoped germanium quantum wells. We are able to span a large range of densities (2.0-11×1011cm-2) in top-gated field effect transistors by positioning the strained buried Ge channel at different depths of 12 and 44 nm from the surface. From the thermal damping of the amplitude of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations, we measure a light mass of 0.061me at a density of 2.2×1011cm-2. We confirm the theoretically predicted dependence of increasing mass with density and by extrapolation we find an effective mass of ∼0.05me at zero density, the lightest effective mass for a planar platform that demonstrated spin qubits in quantum dots.QCD/Scappucci LabQuTechBusiness DevelopmentQCD/Veldhorst La

Effect of Quantum Hall Edge Strips on Valley Splitting in Silicon Quantum Wells

We determine the energy splitting of the conduction-band valleys in two-dimensional electrons confined to low-disorder Si quantum wells. We probe the valley splitting dependence on both perpendicular magnetic field B and Hall density by performing activation energy measurements in the quantum Hall regime over a large range of filling factors. The mobility gap of the valley-split levels increases linearly with B and is strikingly independent of Hall density. The data are consistent with a transport model in which valley splitting depends on the incremental changes in density eB/h across quantum Hall edge strips, rather than the bulk density. Based on these results, we estimate that the valley splitting increases with density at a rate of 116 μeV/1011 cm-2, which is consistent with theoretical predictions for near-perfect quantum well top interfaces.QCD/Scappucci LabQuTechBusiness DevelopmentQCD/Veldhorst La

Shallow and Undoped Germanium Quantum Wells: A Playground for Spin and Hybrid Quantum Technology

Buried-channel semiconductor heterostructures are an archetype material platform for the fabrication of gated semiconductor quantum devices. Sharp confinement potential is obtained by positioning the channel near the surface; however, nearby surface states degrade the electrical properties of the starting material. Here, a 2D hole gas of high mobility (5 × 105 cm2 V−1 s−1) is demonstrated in a very shallow strained germanium (Ge) channel, which is located only 22 nm below the surface. The top-gate of a dopant-less field effect transistor controls the channel carrier density confined in an undoped Ge/SiGe heterostructure with reduced background contamination, sharp interfaces, and high uniformity. The high mobility leads to mean free paths ≈ 6 µm, setting new benchmarks for holes in shallow field effect transistors. The high mobility, along with a percolation density of 1.2 × 1011cm−2, light effective mass (0.09me), and high effective g-factor (up to 9.2) highlight the potential of undoped Ge/SiGe as a low-disorder material platform for hybrid quantum technologies.Business DevelopmentQuTechQCD/Scappucci LabQCD/Veldhorst La

A quantum dot crossbar with sublinear scaling of interconnects at cryogenic temperature

We demonstrate a 36 × 36 gate electrode crossbar that supports 648 narrow-channel field effect transistors (FET) for gate-defined quantum dots, with a quadratic increase in quantum dot count upon a linear increase in control lines. The crossbar is fabricated on an industrial 28Si-MOS stack and shows 100% FET yield at cryogenic temperature. We observe a decreasing threshold voltage for wider channel devices and obtain a normal distribution of pinch-off voltages for nominally identical tunnel barriers probed over 1296 gate crossings. Macroscopically across the crossbar, we measure an average pinch-off of 1.17 V with a standard deviation of 46.8 mV, while local differences within each unit cell indicate a standard deviation of 23.1 mV. These disorder potential landscape variations translate to 1.2 and 0.6 times the measured quantum dot charging energy, respectively. Such metrics provide means for material and device optimization and serve as guidelines in the design of large-scale architectures for fault-tolerant semiconductor-based quantum computing.QCD/Scappucci LabQuTechBUS/Quantum DelftQCD/Sebastiano LabQuantum Circuit Architectures and TechnologyQN/Veldhorst La