Atom-based Silicon Devices for Quantum Computing and Analog Quantum Simulation

Richard Silver
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA

ABSTRACT: NIST is using atomically precise fabrication to develop electronic devices for use in quantum information processing, quantum materials research and quantum sensing. We are using hydrogen-based scanning probe lithography to enable deterministic placement of individual dopant atoms with atomically aligned contacts and gates to fabricate single electron transistors, single atom transistors, few-donor/quantum dot devices for spin manipulation, and arrayed few-donor devices for quantum materials and analog quantum simulation research.

I will discuss the fabrication and characterization of tunnel junctions and single electron transistors as well as modeling of single and few atom transistors. I will present analysis of tunnel coupling in single electron transistors and donor-dot devices where the tunnel gap is controlled at the atomic scale. We have recently extended our STM-patterning to fabricate arrays of few atom clusters that range from 1×2 coupled quantum dots to a functional 3×3 quantum dot array. Using the Si (100)2×1 surface reconstruction as an atomic ruler, we design the separation between nearest neighbor dots to be in the regime from weakly coupled to strongly coupled. I will present low temperature transport data and Hubbard modeling results to characterize the energy spectra and many body eigenstates in few dot arrays and larger arrays of coupled dots to explore the rich physics of quantum dot-arrays.

BIOGRAPHY: Richard Silver is a physicist leading the atom-based silicon quantum electronics effort at NIST. His research focusses on fabrication, design, and measurement of atom-based Si structures that rely on single or few atoms, precisely placed within an epitaxial silicon environment for solid state quantum computing and analog quantum simulation. He received his bachelors in physics from the University of California at Berkeley and his PhD in physics from University of Texas at Austin. He is an adjunct professor with the physics department at the University of Maryland, College Park.