A High-Sensitivity Charge Sensor for Silicon Qubits above 1 K

Recent studies of silicon spin qubits at temperatures above 1 K are encouraging demonstrations that the cooling requirements for solid-state quantum computing can be considerably relaxed. However, qubit readout mechanisms that rely on charge sensing with a single-island single-electron transistor (SISET) quickly lose sensitivity due to thermal broadening of the electron distribution in the reservoirs. Here we exploit the tunneling between two quantized states in a double-island single-electron transistor (SET) to demonstrate a charge sensor with an improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio by an order of magnitude compared to a standard SISET, and a single-shot charge readout fidelity above 99% up to 8 K at a bandwidth greater than 100 kHz. These improvements are consistent with our theoretical modeling of the temperature-dependent current transport for both types of SETs. With minor additional hardware overhead, these sensors can be integrated into existing qubit architectures for a high-fidelity charge readout at few-kelvin temperatures.

Automated summary

Recent studies on silicon spin qubits at temperatures above 1 K have shown promising results, suggesting that the cooling requirements for solid-state quantum computing can be relaxed. By utilizing tunneling between two quantized states in a double-island single-electron transistor, researchers have achieved a charge sensor with significantly improved signal-to-noise ratio compared to standard single-island single-electron transistors.