Designing defect spins for wafer-scale quantum technologies
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The technological promise of quantum physics Many of the conceptual moorings that led to a revolution in microelectronic and optical device technologies in the second half of the 20th century stem directly from the development of quantum physics only a few decades earlier. For instance, the early realization that matter at its most basic level exhibits wavelike properties permeates the physics of semiconductors and is critical to understanding the function of transistors. The notion that light comes “quantized” as particles that can propagate in a phase-coherent manner led to the invention of the laser. Such inventions built on new physical understandings that diverged significantly from previous nonquantum descriptions of nature, but they did not capitalize fully on what many perceive as the most surprising aspects of quantum mechanics. Core aspects of the quantum world such as quantum superposition, the uncertainty principle, and quantum entanglement are probabilistic by nature and lead to behavior that frequently appears contrary to human intuition. Nevertheless,
these phenomena still follow well-defined mathematical rules that make them predictable and controllable. This key realization—that such “spooky” quantum behaviors can actually be purposefully manipulated—came as the result of extensive experimental and theoretical research during the second half of the 20th century. It has since inspired a period of rapid technological exploration and development that promises to reframe the limits of modern information technology. This “second quantum revolution” aims to produce technologies such as uncrackable secure telecommunications, powerful computers capable of simulating advanced quantum materials, and ultrasensitive sensors.1 Researchers are exploring diverse candidate systems for implementing these emerging quantum technologies. In this article, we discuss one particularly promising materials paradigm that could lead to semiconductor-based implementations: electronic spins bound to point defects. Perhaps counterintuitively, although such semiconductor point defects are often regarded as undesirable sources of disorder in traditional
William F. Koehl, Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, USA; and Argonne National Laboratory, USA; [email protected] Hosung Seo, Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, USA; [email protected] Giulia Galli, Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, USA; and Argonne National Laboratory, USA; [email protected] David D. Awschalom, Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, USA; and Argonne National Laboratory, USA; [email protected] DOI: 10.1557/mrs.2015.266
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MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 40 • DECEMBER 2015 • www.mrs.org/bulletin
© 2015 Materials Research Society
DESIGNING DEFECT SPINS FOR WAFER-SCALE QUANTUM TECHNOLOGIESS
microelectronics, they can nevertheless act as natural quantum resources with atomic-scale dimensions, capable of being integrated into the traditional microelectroni
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