Quantum System-on-Chip based on silicon carbide

A key question for modern quantum technology is: can isolated demonstrator experiments be united to implement real-world applications?Theory shows that by connecting quantum memories and processors, e.g., on a chip, surprisingly small systems can immediately achieve a quantum advantage. But the experimental implementation remains a grand challenge.Today, optically active spins in solids (colour centres) already implement quantum communication, computing, and memories – albeit individually. Pioneering efforts (including mine) focused on nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond, but low material availability and difficulties in diamond fabrication hinder quantum chip developments.This project will realise a Quantum System-on-Chip with colour centres in an industrial semiconductor material: silicon carbide. Like a classical System-on-Chip, it will integrate separated processing and memory units, which are connected via photonic quantum communication lines. My mission goals are a) Entangling a quantum processor with a quantum memory; and b) Quantum processing based on instructions from the memory.To achieve these ambitious goals, I capitalise on two recent breakthroughs, which I spearheaded. My team developed the first quantum-grade fabrication of silicon carbide – and successfully integrated colour centres into nanophotonic quantum communication lines. Further, we recently investigated a new colour centre (the stacking-fault divacancy), which is the semiconductor twin of the nitrogen-vacancy in diamond. The similarity permits us to build upon established techniques and will ultimately allow demonstrating the long-proposed increased coherence times of nuclear spin qubits in silicon carbide.The successful project will initiate a transformative change towards reliable, cost-effective, and widely available quantum technologies – with Europe at the forefront of these developments considering that its silicon carbide industry is the global leader with >70% market share.