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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Exchange-only spin-orbit qubits in silicon and germanium

Stefano Bosco* and Maximilian Rimbach-Russ

  • *Contact author: s.bosco@tudelft.nl
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Phys. Rev. Applied 25, L021002 – Published 10 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/nl35-6886

Abstract

The strong spin-orbit interaction in silicon and germanium hole quantum dots enables all-electric microwave control of single spins but is unsuited for multispin exchange-only qubits that rely on scalable discrete signals to suppress crosstalk and heating effects in large quantum processors. Here, we propose an exchange-only spin-orbit qubit that utilizes spin-orbit interactions to implement qubit gates and keeps the beneficial properties of the original encoding. Our encoding is robust to significant local variability in hole spin properties and, because it operates with two degenerate states, it eliminates the need for the rotating frame, avoiding the technologically demanding constraints of fast clocks and precise signal calibration. Unlike current exchange-only qubits, which require complex multistep sequences prone to leakage, our qubit design enables low-leakage two-qubit gates in a single step, addressing critical challenges in scaling spin qubits.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 25, L021002– Published 10 February, 2026
  • Received 7 October 2024
  • Revised 24 December 2025
  • Accepted 5 January 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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