Scalable quantum current source on commercial CMOS process technology

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a scalable quantum current source using commercial CMOS technology, achieving SI-traceable accuracy and proposing a monolithic chip with millions of charge pumps for practical quantum current standards.

Contribution

It introduces a CMOS-based quantum current standard fabricated with commercial 22-nm process technology, enabling scalable, high-accuracy quantum current generation.

Findings

Achieved (1.2 +/- 0.1)E-3 A/A accuracy at 50 MHz

Used commercial CMOS process for quantum charge pumps

Proposed a monolithic CMOS chip with one million charge pumps

Abstract

Many quantum technologies require a precise electrical current standard that can only be achieved with expensive cryogenics, or through the secondary standards, such as resistance or voltage. Silicon-based charge pumps could provide such a standard in an inherently scalable way, through their compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication methods. However, coherent quantized charge transfer has so far been demonstrated only in nanoscale devices that are custom-fabricated in academic cleanrooms or research technology foundries. Here, we show that a CMOS device manufactured with commercial 22-nm process node can be used to define a quantum current standard in the International System of Units (SI). We measure an accuracy of (1.2 +/- 0.1)E-3 A/A at 50 MHz with reference to SI voltage and resistance standards in a pumped helium system. We then propose a practical monolithic CMOS chip that incorporates one million parallel connected charge pumps along with on-chip control electronics. This chip could be operated as a table-top primary standard that can be easily integrated with CMOS electronics, generating quantum currents of up to microampere levels.