Leveraging Off-the-Shelf Silicon Chips for Quantum Computing

TL;DR

This paper explores the feasibility of using commercial off-the-shelf silicon transistors to create scalable, affordable quantum bits, addressing challenges like noise and coherence for practical quantum computing.

Contribution

It analyzes potential methods and designs for employing standard semiconductor devices as qubits, highlighting their advantages and challenges for scalable quantum systems.

Findings

Commercial transistors can host quantum dots for qubits.

Techniques like charge sensing enable readout of qubits.

Designs such as 2D arrays and crossbar architectures are promising.

Abstract

There is a growing demand for quantum computing across various sectors, including finance, materials and studying chemical reactions. A promising implementation involves semiconductor qubits utilizing quantum dots within transistors. While academic research labs currently produce their own devices, scaling this process is challenging, requires expertise, and results in devices of varying quality. Some initiatives are exploring the use of commercial transistors, offering scalability, improved quality, affordability, and accessibility for researchers. This paper delves into potential realizations and the feasibility of employing off-the-shelf commercial devices for qubits. It addresses challenges such as noise, coherence, limited customizability in large industrial fabs, and scalability issues. The exploration includes discussions on potential manufacturing approaches for early versions of small qubit chips. The use of state-of-the-art transistors as hosts for quantum dots, incorporating readout techniques based on charge sensing or reflectometry, and methods like electron shuttling for qubit connectivity are examined. Additionally, more advanced designs, including 2D arrays and crossbar or DRAM-like access arrays, are considered for the path toward accessible quantum computing.