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Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Measurement of Quantum Interference in a Silicon Ring Resonator Photon Source
Published on: April 4, 2017
A coherent spin-photon interface in silicon
1Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Abstract:
Electron spins in silicon quantum dots are attractive systems for quantum computing owing to their long coherence times and the promise of rapid scaling of the number of dots in a system using semiconductor fabrication techniques. Although nearest-neighbour exchange coupling of two spins has been demonstrated, the interaction of spins via microwave-frequency photons could enable long-distance spin-spin coupling and connections between arbitrary pairs of qubits ('all-to-all' connectivity) in a spin-based quantum processor. Realizing coherent spin-photon coupling is challenging because of the small magnetic-dipole moment of a single spin, which limits magnetic-dipole coupling rates to less than 1 kilohertz. Here we demonstrate strong coupling between a single spin in silicon and a single microwave-frequency photon, with spin-photon coupling rates of more than 10 megahertz. The mechanism that enables the coherent spin-photon interactions is based on spin-charge hybridization in the presence of a magnetic-field gradient. In addition to spin-photon coupling, we demonstrate coherent control and dispersive readout of a single spin. These results open up a direct path to entangling single spins using microwave-frequency photons.
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