Description
Sparse near-surface arrays of donor atoms can be engineered in silicon by means of deterministic single-ion implantation [1,2] and used to realise diverse donor-spin qudit processor architectures for quantum computing applications [2,3]. The ¹²³Sb isotope (nuclear spin I = 7/2) has emerged as a promising high-spin donor-qudit platform in silicon, with recent work demonstrating coherent electrical control [4], high-dimensional electron-nuclear spin control [5], and error-correctable nuclear-spin qudit states [6]. The ion implantation process of ¹²³Sb is typically followed by a thermal annealing step to repair damage in the silicon lattice and activate donor atoms onto substitutional sites for reliable electrical control [7]. Here, we aim to determine and optimise the activation yield of sparse and shallowly implanted Sb ensembles, which are created under conditions relevant for scalable silicon quantum device fabrication. Therefore, we combine Hall devices and novel high-sensitivity RBS-channeling measurements to compare the electrical and substitutional donor activation across different sample annealing conditions. This work supports the maturation of ¹²³Sb-donor spin qudit technology for Si-CMOS quantum computing, which requires high-fidelity near-surface arrays of electrically activated donors.
References:
[1] A. M. Jakob et al., Advanced Materials 34, 2103235 (2022)
[2] A. M. Jakob et al., Advanced Materials 36, 2405006 (2024)
[3] G. Tosi et al., Nature Communications 8, 450 (2017)
[4] S. Asaad et al., Nature 579, 205 (2020)
[5] I. Fernández de Fuentes et al., Nature Communications 15, 1380 (2024)
[6] X. Yu et al., Nature Physics 21, 362 (2025)
[7] T. Schenkel et al., Applied Physics Letters 88, 112101 (2006).
| I am the presenting author | Yes |
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