Variability is a problem for the scalability of semiconductor quantum devices. The parameter space is large, and the operating range is small. Our statistical tuning algorithm searches for specific ...electron transport features in gate-defined quantum dot devices with a gate voltage space of up to eight dimensions. Starting from the full range of each gate voltage, our machine learning algorithm can tune each device to optimal performance in a median time of under 70 minutes. This performance surpassed our best human benchmark (although both human and machine performance can be improved). The algorithm is approximately 180 times faster than an automated random search of the parameter space, and is suitable for different material systems and device architectures. Our results yield a quantitative measurement of device variability, from one device to another and after thermal cycling. Our machine learning algorithm can be extended to higher dimensions and other technologies.
Abstract The potential of Si and SiGe-based devices for the scaling of quantum circuits is tainted by device variability. Each device needs to be tuned to operation conditions and each device ...realisation requires a different tuning protocol. We demonstrate that it is possible to automate the tuning of a 4-gate Si FinFET, a 5-gate GeSi nanowire and a 7-gate Ge/SiGe heterostructure double quantum dot device from scratch with the same algorithm. We achieve tuning times of 30, 10, and 92 min, respectively. The algorithm also provides insight into the parameter space landscape for each of these devices, allowing for the characterization of the regions where double quantum dot regimes are found. These results show that overarching solutions for the tuning of quantum devices are enabled by machine learning.
Quantum devices with a large number of gate electrodes allow for precise control of device parameters. This capability is hard to fully exploit due to the complex dependence of these parameters on ...applied gate voltages. We experimentally demonstrate an algorithm capable of fine-tuning several device parameters at once. The algorithm acquires a measurement and assigns it a score using a variational auto-encoder. Gate voltage settings are set to optimize this score in real-time in an unsupervised fashion. We report fine-tuning times of a double quantum dot device within approximately 40 min.
We present transport measurements of cleaved edge overgrowth GaAs quantum wires. The conductance of the first mode reaches 2e(2)/h at high temperatures T≳10 K, as expected. As T is lowered, the ...conductance is gradually reduced to 1e(2)/h, becoming T independent at T≲0.1 K, while the device cools far below 0.1 K. This behavior is seen in several wires, is independent of density, and not altered by moderate magnetic fields B. The conductance reduction by a factor of 2 suggests lifting of the electron spin degeneracy in the absence of B. Our results are consistent with theoretical predictions for helical nuclear magnetism in the Luttinger liquid regime.
We perform momentum-conserving tunneling spectroscopy using a GaAs cleaved-edge overgrowth quantum wire to investigate adjacent quantum Hall edge states. We use the lowest five wire modes with their ...distinct wave functions to probe each edge state and apply magnetic fields to modify the wave functions and their overlap. This reveals an intricate and rich tunneling conductance fan structure which is succinctly different for each of the wire modes. We self-consistently solve the Poisson-Schrödinger equations to simulate the spectroscopy, reproducing the striking fans in great detail, thus, confirming the calculations. Further, the model predicts hybridization between wire states and Landau levels, which is also confirmed experimentally. This establishes momentum-conserving tunneling spectroscopy as a powerful technique to probe edge state wave functions.
We demonstrate electrical control of the spin relaxation time T1 between Zeeman-split spin states of a single electron in a lateral quantum dot. We find that relaxation is mediated by the spin-orbit ...interaction, and by manipulating the orbital states of the dot using gate voltages we vary the relaxation rate W identical withT1(-1) by over an order of magnitude. The dependence of W on orbital confinement agrees with theoretical predictions, and from these data we extract the spin-orbit length. We also measure the dependence of W on the magnetic field and demonstrate that spin-orbit mediated coupling to phonons is the dominant relaxation mechanism down to 1 T, where T1 exceeds 1 s.
We report a thermally activated metastability in a GaAs double quantum dot exhibiting real-time charge switching in diamond shaped regions of the charge stability diagram. Accidental charge traps and ...sensor backaction are excluded as the origin of the switching. We present an extension of the canonical double dot theory based on an intrinsic, thermal electron exchange process through the reservoirs, giving excellent agreement with the experiment. The electron spin is randomized by the exchange process, thus facilitating fast, gate-controlled spin initialization. At the same time, this process sets an intrinsic upper limit to the spin relaxation time.
One of the most intriguing and fundamental properties of topological systems is the correspondence between the conducting edge states and the gapped bulk spectrum. Here, we use a GaAs cleaved edge ...quantum wire to perform momentum-resolved spectroscopy of the quantum Hall edge states in a tunnel-coupled 2D electron gas. This reveals the momentum and position of the edge states with unprecedented precision and shows the evolution from very low magnetic fields all the way to high fields where depopulation occurs. We present consistent analytical and numerical models, inferring the edge states from the well-known bulk spectrum, finding excellent agreement with the experiment-thus providing direct evidence for the bulk to edge correspondence. In addition, we observe various features beyond the single-particle picture, such as Fermi level pinning, exchange-enhanced spin splitting and signatures of edge-state reconstruction.
Abstract
Scalable quantum technologies such as quantum computers will require very large numbers of quantum devices to be characterised and tuned. As the number of devices on chip increases, this ...task becomes ever more time-consuming, and will be intractable on a large scale without efficient automation. We present measurements on a quantum dot device performed by a machine learning algorithm in real time. The algorithm selects the most informative measurements to perform next by combining information theory with a probabilistic deep-generative model that can generate full-resolution reconstructions from scattered partial measurements. We demonstrate, for two different current map configurations that the algorithm outperforms standard grid scan techniques, reducing the number of measurements required by up to 4 times and the measurement time by 3.7 times. Our contribution goes beyond the use of machine learning for data search and analysis, and instead demonstrates the use of algorithms to automate measurements. This works lays the foundation for learning-based automated measurement of quantum devices.