Coordinated Project: Technology platform for exploring novel concepts in semiconductor devices for quantum computing
Summary:
Q-Tech project aims to contribute to the development of a semiconductor quantum computing technology, based on the formation of quantum dots by electrostatic and / or nanometric geometric confinement. The quantization of energy in quantum dots enables the manipulation of a single electron in the first instance and, by adding additional electrostatic gates, it is possible to define, control and operate spin qubits. The scalability potential of semiconductor technologies and the recently demonstrated excellent properties achieved with spin qubits in silicon indicate that a semiconductor technology for quantum computing is plausible several years from now. Until then, it is necessary to develop manufacturing methods suited to the demanding needs of quantum semiconductor devices. This is the challenge this project is focusing on: developing a technology platform for the fabrication of semiconductor-based qubits to experiment with new device concepts and fabrication methods.
Consequently, the overall objective of Q-TECH is to contribute to the development of quantum computing technology by establishing semiconductor qubit fabrication platforms that will facilitate the investigation of novel concepts of device operation and fabrication. Advances in semiconductor-based qubit manufacturing technology must be accompanied by an investigation of the factors that limit their performance, an aspect that will also be addressed in this proposal through intensive and focused physical characterization of devices and understanding how materials and manufacturing methods influence the functional properties.
In accordance with this, the consortium is made up of 3 research groups organized into 2 subprojects: device manufacturing and functional characterization (subproject 1) and physical and material characterization (subproject 2).
The project will make it possible to achieve the first functional semiconductor qubit manufactured in Spain, which will include original innovations, namely, the introduction of new manufacturing methods that will lead to quantum semiconductor devices with improved properties with respect to the current state of the art for their operation as spin qubits.
Overall, the project points to the most pressing challenge in semiconductor-based quantum computing: the experimental demonstration of a scalable technology to achieve a system with a large number of qubits. Q-Tech advances will be continually benchmarked against progress in solid-state qubit-based computing in general, in coordination with other national and international initiatives. At the end of the project, a process design kit (PDK) for the manufacture of high-precision qubits will be made available to the Spanish Quantum Technology Community. The PDK will initially comprise the manufacturing methods for the devices addressed in this project and it will be reviewed according to the future progress of the field.
Subproject 1: Fabrication technologies for semiconductor quantum devices (Ref.: PID2021-126046OB-C21)
PI: Francesc Pérez-Murano (IMB-CNM, CSIC), Paloma Tejedor (ICMM, CSIC)
Subproject 2: Advanced characterization of semiconductor nanostructures for quantum computing devices (Ref.: PID2021-126046OB-C22)
PI: Jorge Serrano (Univ. Valladolid), Jorge Manuel Souto (Univ.Valladolid)
Dates: September 2022 – August 2025