Spin defects in silicon carbide have exceptional electron spin coherence with a nearinfrared spin-photon interface in a material amenable to modern semiconductor fabrication. Leveraging these advantages, we successfully integrate highly coherent single neutral divacancy spins in commercially available p-i-n structures and fabricate diodes to modulate the local electrical environment of the defects. These devices enable deterministic charge state control and broad Stark shift tuning exceeding 850 GHz. Surprisingly, we show that charge depletion results in a narrowing of the optical linewidths by over 50 fold, approaching the lifetime limit. These results demonstrate a method for mitigating the ubiquitous problem of spectral diffusion in solid-state emitters by engineering the electrical environment while utilizing classical semiconductor devices to control scalable spin-based quantum systems.

Long coherence times are key to the performance of quantum bits (qubits). Here, we experimentally and theoretically show that the Hahn-echo coherence time of electron spins associated with divacancy defects in 4H–SiC reaches 1.3 ms, one of the longest Hahn-echo coherence times of an electron spin in a naturally isotopic crystal. Using a first-principles microscopic quantum-bath model, we find that two factors determine the unusually robust coherence. First, in the presence of moderate magnetic fields (30 mT and above), the 29Si and 13C paramagnetic nuclear spin baths are decoupled. In addition, because SiC is a binary crystal, homo-nuclear spin pairs are both diluted and forbidden from forming strongly coupled, nearest-neighbour spin pairs. Longer neighbour distances result in fewer nuclear spin flip-flops, a less fluctuating intra-crystalline magnetic environment, and thus a longer coherence time. Our results point to polyatomic crystals as promising hosts for coherent qubits in the solid state.

Realizing the potential of quantum computing requires sufficiently low logical error rates1. Many applications call for error rates as low as 10−15 (refs. 2–9), but state-of-the-art quantum platforms typically have physical error rates near 10−3 (refs. 10–14). Quantum error correction15–17 promises to bridge this divide by distributing quantum logical information across many physical qubits in such a way that errors can be detected and corrected. Errors on the encoded logical qubit state can be exponentially suppressed as the number of physical qubits grows, provided that the physical error rates are below a certain threshold and stable over the course of a computation. Here we implement one-dimensional repetition codes embedded in a two-dimensional grid of superconducting qubits that demonstrate exponential suppression of bit-flip or phase-flip errors, reducing logical error per round more than 100-fold when increasing the number of qubits from 5 to 21. Crucially, this error suppression is stable over 50 rounds of error correction. We also introduce a method for analysing error correlations with high precision, allowing us to characterize error locality while performing quantum error correction. Finally, we perform error detection with a small logical qubit using the 2D surface code on the same device18,19 and show that the results from both one- and two-dimensional codes agree with numerical simulations that use a simple depolarizing error model. These experimental demonstrations provide a foundation for building a scalable fault-tolerant quantum computer with superconducting qubits.

The discovery of topological order has revolutionized the understanding of quantum matter in modern physics and provided the theoretical foundation for many quantum error correcting codes. Realizing topologically ordered states has proven to be extremely challenging in both condensed matter and synthetic quantum systems. Here, we prepare the ground state of the toric code Hamiltonian using an efficient quantum circuit on a superconducting quantum processor. We measure a topological entanglement entropy near the expected value of ln 2, and simulate anyon interferometry to extract the braiding statistics of the emergent excitations. Furthermore, we investigate key aspects of the surface code, including logical state injection and the decay of the non-local order parameter. Our results demonstrate the potential for quantum processors to provide key insights into topological quantum matter and quantum error correction.

Quantum scrambling Information spreading in interacting quantum systems is of relevance to a wide range of settings, from black holes to strange metals. Mi et al . used the Sycamore quantum processor to study this process. Through judicial design of quantum circuits, the researchers were able to separate the contributions of operator spreading and operator entanglement. Measuring the mean value and fluctuations of a specific correlator enabled quantifying these distinct contributions. —JS

Silicon carbide has recently been developed as a platform for optically addressable spin defects. In particular, the neutral divacancy in the 4H polytype displays an optically addressable spin-1 ground state and near-infrared optical emission. Here, we present the Purcell enhancement of a single neutral divacancy coupled to a photonic crystal cavity. We utilize a combination of nanolithographic techniques and a dopant-selective photoelectrochemical etch to produce suspended cavities with quality factors exceeding 5,000. Subsequent coupling to a single divacancy leads to a Purcell factor of ~50, which manifests as increased photoluminescence into the zero-phonon line and a shortened excited-state lifetime. Additionally, we measure coherent control of the divacancy ground state spin inside the cavity nanostructure and demonstrate extended coherence through dynamical decoupling. This spin-cavity system represents an advance towards scalable long-distance entanglement protocols using silicon carbide that require the interference of indistinguishable photons from spatially separated single qubits.

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In current long-distance communications, classical information carried by large numbers of particles is intrinsically robust to some transmission losses but can, therefore, be eavesdropped without notice. On the other hand, quantum communications can provide provable privacy and could make use of entanglement swapping via quantum repeaters to mitigate transmission losses. To this end, considerable effort has been spent over the last few decades toward developing quantum repeaters that combine long-lived quantum memories with a source of indistinguishable single photons. Multiple candidate optical spin qubits in the solid state, including quantum dots, rare-earth ions, and color centers in diamond and silicon carbide (SiC), have been developed. In this perspective, we give a brief overview on recent advances in developing optically active spin qubits in SiC and discuss challenges in applications for quantum repeaters and possible solutions. In view of the development of different material platforms, the perspective of SiC spin qubits in scalable quantum networks is discussed.