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UNSW Team Entangles Nuclear Spins 20 Nanometers Apart in Silicon

Electron exchange enabled a two-qubit gate that operates at transistor-scale distances, suggesting a path compatible with standard chip fabrication.

Overview

  • Researchers reported in Science that they created entanglement between the nuclear spins of two phosphorus atoms in a silicon device using electrons as mediators.
  • They implemented a controlled-Z operation via a geometric gate, linking nuclei separated by about 20 nanometers—comparable to modern transistor features.
  • The team measured a nuclear Bell state with roughly 76% fidelity and a concurrence of about 0.67, confirming entanglement quality.
  • Engineers describe the approach as robust and scalable, noting electrons can be repositioned or reshaped to switch interactions with precision.
  • The device used phosphorus implanted by the University of Melbourne in ultrapure silicon supplied by Keio University, underscoring compatibility with established semiconductor processes.