Towards the fabrication of phosphorus qubits for a silicon quantum computer - art. no. 161401

The quest to build a quantum computer has been inspired by the recognition of the formidable computational power such a device could offer. In particu lar silicon-based proposals, using the nuclear or electron spin of dopants as qubits, are attractive due to the long spin relaxation times involved, t heir scalability, and the ease of integration with existing silicon technol ogy. Fabrication of such devices, however, requires atomic scale manipulati on-an immense technological challenge. We demonstrate that it is possible t o fabricate an atomically precise linear array of single phosphorus bearing molecules on a silicon surface with the required dimensions for the fabric ation of a silicon-based quantum computer. We also discuss strategies for t he encapsulation of these phosphorus atoms by subsequent silicon crystal gr owth.