Quantum computing and single-qubit measurements using the spin filter effect

Many things will have to go right for quantum computation to become a reality in the lab. For any of the presently-proposed approaches involving spin states in solids, an essential requirement is that these spins should be measured at the single-Bohr-magneton level. Fortunately, quantum computing provides a suggestion for a new approach to this seemingly almost impossible task: convert the magnetization into a charge, and measure the charge. I show how this might be done by exploiting the spin filter effect provided by ferromagnetic tunnel barriers, used in conjunction with one-electron quantum dots.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, 1 figure. To be published in J. Appl. Phys., paper given at the 43rd Annual MMM Conferenc

Simple operation sequences to couple and interchange quantum information between spin qubits of different kinds

Efficient operation sequences to couple and interchange quantum information between quantum dot spin qubits of different kinds are derived using exchange interactions. In the qubit encoding of a single-spin qubit, a singlet-triplet qubit, and an exchange-only (triple-dot) qubit, some of the single-qubit interactions remain on during the entangling operation; this greatly simplifies the operation sequences that construct entangling operations. In the ideal setup, the gate operations use the intra-qubit exchange interactions only once. The limitations of the entangling sequences are discussed, and it is shown how quantum information can be converted between different kinds of quantum dot spin qubits.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Hall Effect Gyrators and Circulators

The electronic circulator, and its close relative the gyrator, are invaluable tools for noise management and signal routing in the current generation of low-temperature microwave systems for the implementation of new quantum technologies. The current implementation of these devices using the Faraday effect is satisfactory, but requires a bulky structure whose physical dimension is close to the microwave wavelength employed. The Hall effect is an alternative non-reciprocal effect that can also be used to produce desired device functionality. We review earlier efforts to use an ohmically-contacted four-terminal Hall bar, explaining why this approach leads to unacceptably high device loss. We find that capacitive coupling to such a Hall conductor has much greater promise for achieving good circulator and gyrator functionality. We formulate a classical Ohm-Hall analysis for calculating the properties of such a device, and show how this classical theory simplifies remarkably in the limiting case of the Hall angle approaching 90 degrees. In this limit we find that either a four-terminal or a three-terminal capacitive device can give excellent circulator behavior, with device dimensions far smaller than the a.c. wavelength. An experiment is proposed to achieve GHz-band gyration in millimetre (and smaller) scale structures employing either semiconductor heterostructure or graphene Hall conductors. An inductively coupled scheme for realising a Hall gyrator is also analysed.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, ~5 MB. V3: sections V-VIII revisited plus other minor changes, Fig 2 added. Submitted to PR

Effective fault-tolerant quantum computation with slow measurements

How important is fast measurement for fault-tolerant quantum computation? Using a combination of existing and new ideas, we argue that measurement times as long as even 1,000 gate times or more have a very minimal effect on the quantum accuracy threshold. This shows that slow measurement, which appears to be unavoidable in many implementations of quantum computing, poses no essential obstacle to scalability.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures. v2: small changes and reference addition

Noise-Protected Gate for Six-Electron Double-Dot Qubits

Singlet-triplet spin qubits in six-electron double quantum dots, in moderate magnetic fields, can show superior immunity to charge noise. This immunity results from the symmetry of orbitals in the second energy shell of circular quantum dots: singlet and triplet states in this shell have identical charge distributions. Our phase-gate simulations, which include $1/f$ charge noise from fluctuating traps, show that this symmetry is most effectively exploited if the gate operation switches rapidly between sweet spots deep in the (3,3) and (4,2) charge stability regions; fidelities very close to one are predicted if subnanosecond switching can be performed.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Multiport Impedance Quantization

With the increase of complexity and coherence of superconducting systems made using the principles of circuit quantum electrodynamics, more accurate methods are needed for the characterization, analysis and optimization of these quantum processors. Here we introduce a new method of modelling that can be applied to superconducting structures involving multiple Josephson junctions, high-Q superconducting cavities, external ports, and voltage sources. Our technique, an extension of our previous work on single-port structures [1], permits the derivation of system Hamiltonians that are capable of representing every feature of the physical system over a wide frequency band and the computation of T1 times for qubits. We begin with a black box model of the linear and passive part of the system. Its response is given by its multiport impedance function Zsim(w), which can be obtained using a finite-element electormagnetics simulator. The ports of this black box are defined by the terminal pairs of Josephson junctions, voltage sources, and 50 Ohm connectors to high-frequency lines. We fit Zsim(w) to a positive-real (PR) multiport impedance matrix Z(s), a function of the complex Laplace variable s. We then use state-space techniques to synthesize a finite electric circuit admitting exactly the same impedance Z(s) across its ports; the PR property ensures the existence of this finite physical circuit. We compare the performance of state-space algorithms to classical frequency domain methods, justifying their superiority in numerical stability. The Hamiltonian of the multiport model circuit is obtained by using existing lumped element circuit quantization formalisms [2, 3]. Due to the presence of ideal transformers in the model circuit, these quantization methods must be extended, requiring the introduction of an extension of the Kirchhoff voltage and current laws

Inverted Singlet-Triplet Qubit Coded on a Two-Electron Double Quantum Dot

The $s_z=0$ spin configuration of two electrons confined at a double quantum dot (DQD) encodes the singlet-triplet qubit (STQ). We introduce the inverted STQ (ISTQ) that emerges from the setup of two quantum dots (QDs) differing significantly in size and out-of-plane magnetic fields. The strongly confined QD has a two-electron singlet ground state, but the weakly confined QD has a two-electron triplet ground state in the $s_z=0$ subspace. Spin-orbit interactions act nontrivially on the $s_z=0$ subspace and provide universal control of the ISTQ together with electrostatic manipulations of the charge configuration. GaAs and InAs DQDs can be operated as ISTQs under realistic noise conditions.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Quantum Computation and Spin Physics

A brief review is given of the physical implementation of quantum computation within spin systems or other two-state quantum systems. The importance of the controlled-NOT or quantum XOR gate as the fundamental primitive operation of quantum logic is emphasized. Recent developments in the use of quantum entanglement to built error-robust quantum states, and the simplest protocol for quantum error correction, are discussed.Comment: 21 pages, Latex, 3 eps figures, prepared for the Proceedings of the Annual MMM Meeting, November, 1996, to be published in J. Appl. Phy

Topological Quantum Computing

This set of lecture notes forms the basis of a series of lectures delivered at the 48th IFF Spring School 2017 on Topological Matter: Topological Insulators, Skyrmions and Majoranas at Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany. The first part of the lecture notes covers the basics of abelian and non-abelian anyons and their realization in the Kitaev's honeycomb model. The second part discusses how to perform universal quantum computation using Majorana fermions.Comment: In Topological Matter: Topological Insulators, Skyrmions and Majoranas, Lecture notes of the 48th IFF Spring School 2017, eds. S. Bluegel, Y. Mokrusov, T. Schaepers, and Y. Ando (Forschungszentrum Juelich, Key Technologies, Vol. 139, 2017), Sec. D

Noise Analysis of Qubits Implemented in Triple Quantum Dot Systems in a Davies Master Equation Approach

We analyze the influence of noise for qubits implemented using a triple quantum dot spin system. We give a detailed description of the physical realization and develop error models for the dominant external noise sources. We use a Davies master equation approach to describe their influence on the qubit. The triple dot system contains two meaningful realizations of a qubit: We consider a subspace and a subsystem of the full Hilbert space to implement the qubit. We test the robustness of these two implementations with respect to the qubit stability. When performing the noise analysis, we extract the initial time evolution of the qubit using a Nakajima-Zwanzig approach. We find that the initial time evolution, which is essential for qubit applications, decouples from the long time dynamics of the system. We extract probabilities for the qubit errors of dephasing, relaxation and leakage. Using the Davies model to describe the environment simplifies the noise analysis. It allows us to construct simple toy models, which closely describe the error probabilities.Comment: 30 pages, 18 figure