Universal control of superexchange in linear triple quantum dots with an empty mediator

Superexchange is one of the vital resources to realize long-range interaction between distant spins for large-scale quantum computing. Recent experiments have demonstrated coherent oscillations between logical states defined by remote spins whose coupling is given by the superexchange interaction mediated by central spins. Excavating the potential of superexchange requires a full understanding of the interaction in terms of control parameters, which is still lacking in literature. Here, using full configuration interaction calculations, we study a two-electron system in a linear triple-quantum-dot device in which the left and right dots are occupied by a single electron each, whose spin states are defined as qubits. The numerical nature of the full configuration interaction calculations allows access to the microscopic details of the quantum-dot confining potential and electronic wave functions, some of which are overlooked in the celebrated Hubbard model but turn out to be critical for the behavior of superexchange. Following experimental demonstrations of superexchange interactions, we focus on the detuning regime where the charge ground state yields an empty middle dot. We have found that, when the detunings at the left and right dots are leveled, the superexchange can exhibit a nonmonotonic behavior, which ranges from positive to negative values as a function of the middle-dot detuning. We further show that a larger relative detuning between the left and right dots causes the magnitude of the superexchange to increase (decrease) for an originally positive (negative) superexchange. We then proceed to show the results for a much larger left-right dot detuning. Using a Hubbard-like model, we present analytical expressions of the superexchange and have found that they conform well qualitatively with the numerical results. Our results suggest that even a simple configuration of delocalized two-electron states in a linear triple-quantum-dot device exhibits superexchange energy with nontrivial behaviors, which could have important applications in spin-based quantum computing. © 2023 American Physical Society.