Perspectives article in Applied Physics Letters special topic Hybrid Quantum Devices. We summarize recent progress and theoretical models that describe superconducting-semiconducting hybrid quantum systems, explain the limitations of these systems, and describe different directions where future experiments and theory are headed.
Superconducting quantum devices provide excellent connectivity and controllability while semiconductor spin qubits stand out with their long-lasting quantum coherence, fast control, and potential for miniaturization and scaling. In the last few years, remarkable progress has been made in combining superconducting circuits and semiconducting devices into hybrid quantum systems that benefit from the physical properties of both constituents. Superconducting cavities can mediate quantum-coherent coupling over long distances between electronic degrees of freedom such as the spin of individual electrons on a semiconductor chip and thus provide essential connectivity for a quantum device. Electron spins in semiconductor quantum dots have reached very long coherence times and allow for fast quantum gate operations with increasing fidelities.