Long-range exchange interaction between spin qubits mediated by a superconducting link at finite magnetic field

TL;DR

This paper proposes a superconducting link to mediate long-range exchange interactions between spin qubits, analyzing effects of spin-orbit coupling, magnetic fields, and geometry to optimize qubit coupling over micron scales.

Contribution

It introduces a superconducting mediator for long-range spin qubit interactions and explores how geometry and material properties influence the exchange strength.

Findings

Exchange rates up to 100 MHz over micron distances are feasible.

Superconductor geometry significantly affects interaction range and strength.

Strong spin-orbit scattering in the superconductor reduces exchange interaction.

Abstract

Solid state spin qubits are promising candidates for the realization of a quantum computer due to their long coherence times and easy electrical manipulation. However, spin-spin interactions, which are needed for entangling gates, have only limited range as they generally rely on tunneling between neighboring quantum dots. This severely constrains scalability. Proposals to extend the interaction range generally focus on coherent electron transport between dots or on extending the coupling range. Here, we study a setup where such an extension is obtained by using a superconductor as a quantum mediator. Because of its gap, the superconductor effectively acts as a long tunnel barrier. We analyze the impact of spin-orbit (SO) coupling, external magnetic fields, and the geometry of the superconductor. We show that while spin non-conserving tunneling between the dots and the superconductor due to SO coupling does not affect the exchange interaction, strong SO scattering in the superconducting bulk is detrimental. Moreover, we find that the addition of an external magnetic field decreases the strength of the exchange interaction. Fortunately, the geometry of the superconducting link offers a lot of room to optimize the interaction range, with gains of over an order of magnitude from a 2D film to a quasi-1D strip. We estimate that for superconductors with weak SO coupling (\textit{e.g.}, aluminum) exchange rates of up to 100\,MHz over a micron-scale range can be achieved with this setup in the presence of magnetic fields of the order of 100\,mT.