Routing Techniques for Error-Corrected Silicon Spin Qubit Quantum Architectures

2026-07-08

AI Summary

This work addresses the limitations of silicon spin qubit platforms in quantum compilation, which are constrained by hardware-specific restrictions and static fabrication defects, and critically lack support for logical error correction in existing approaches. To bridge this gap, the study introduces the first integration of high-level logical circuit routing with a two-dimensional surface code error correction scheme. It proposes two adaptive routing algorithms—the shortest-path method and the rotation-based method—augmented with defect-aware initial mapping and layout optimization strategies. The shortest-path approach excels in low-defect, sparse scenarios, while the rotation-based method demonstrates superior performance under high defect densities. This research establishes a foundational framework for error-correction-aware compilation on silicon spin qubit architectures, with implementations publicly released in the MQT toolkit.

Abstract

Silicon spin qubits have emerged as a promising qubit technology due to their favorable scaling and fabrication properties. However, efficiently compiling quantum circuits onto spin qubit platforms remains challenging, particularly when accounting for hardware constraints and the high sensitivity to static defects. Existing compilation approaches for spin qubits either largely ignore error correction, despite its critical role for large-scale quantum computation, or focus on low-level schedule constructions, missing a high-level compilation and routing for logical, error-corrected algorithms. To address this gap, we introduce a compilation framework for spin qubits based on the recent snakes on a plane model, which utilizes a 2D surface code and qubit teleportation to mitigate errors. Building on this model, we propose shortest-path and rotation-based algorithms as two novel classes of qubit-routing techniques, along with additional defect-handling and initial-mapping strategies. We evaluate both algorithms across diverse architectural settings and problem sizes, demonstrating that shortest-path methods excel in sparse, low-defect scenarios, while rotation-based approaches perform better in high-density environments. An open-source implementation of our framework is publicly available on GitHub as part of the Munich Quantum Toolkit (MQT) at https://github.com/munich-quantum-toolkit/spin-qubit-routing.

Problem

• silicon spin qubits
• error correction
• quantum compilation
• qubit routing
• hardware constraints

Innovation

• spin qubit routing
• error-corrected quantum computing
• surface code
• defect-aware compilation
• quantum circuit mapping