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Distant spin entanglement via fast and coherent electron shuttling

Nature Nanotechnology volume 16, pages 570–575 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

In the quest for large-scale quantum computing, networked quantum computers offer a natural path towards scalability. While recent experiments have demonstrated nearest neighbour entanglement for electron spin qubits in semiconductors, on-chip long-distance entanglement could bring more versatility to connect quantum core units. Here, we employ the moving trapping potential of a surface acoustic wave to realize the controlled and coherent transfer of a pair of entangled electron spins between two distant quantum dots. The subsequent electron displacement induces coherent spin rotations, which drives spin quantum interferences. We observe high-contrast interference as a signature of the preservation of the entanglement all along the displacement procedure, which includes a separation of the two spins by a distance of 6 μm. This work opens the route towards fast on-chip deterministic interconnection of remote quantum bits in semiconductor quantum circuits.

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Fig. 1: Electron transfer protocol.
Fig. 2: Local spin manipulation.
Fig. 3: Controllable injection in moving quantum dots.
Fig. 4: Two-electron-spin quantum interferences.

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Data availability

The datasets used in this work are available online from the Zenodo repository at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4115984.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank B. Bertrand, M. Nurizzo, M. Vinet and X. Hu for enlightening discussions. We acknowledge support from the technical poles of the Institut Néel, and in particular the Nanofab team who helped with the sample realization, as well as P. Perrier, G. Pont, H. Rodenas, E. Eyraud, D. Lepoittevin, C. Hoarau and C. Guttin. A.L. and A.D.W. gratefully acknowledge the support of DFG-TRR160, BMBF-Q.Link.X 16KIS0867 and DFH/UFA CDFA-05-06. T.M. acknowledges financial support from ERC QSPINMOTION and Quantera Si QuBus.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institut Néel, Grenoble, France

    Baptiste Jadot, Pierre-André Mortemousque, Emmanuel Chanrion, Vivien Thiney, Matias Urdampilleta, Christopher Bäuerle & Tristan Meunier

  2. Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Festkörperphysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Arne Ludwig & Andreas D. Wieck

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  1. Baptiste Jadot
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Contributions

B.J. fabricated the sample and performed the experiments with the help of P.-A.M., T.M. and C.B.; B.J. and T.M. interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript with input from all the other authors. A.L. and A.D.W. performed the design and molecular-beam-epitaxy growth of the high-mobility heterostructure. All authors discussed the results extensively, as well as the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Baptiste Jadot or Tristan Meunier.

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Peer review information Nature Nanotechnology thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–3, Sections 1–4 and refs 1–5.

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Jadot, B., Mortemousque, PA., Chanrion, E. et al. Distant spin entanglement via fast and coherent electron shuttling. Nat. Nanotechnol. 16, 570–575 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-00846-y

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