Quantum systems with engineered Hamiltonians can be used to study many-body physics problems to provide insights beyond the capabilities of classical computers. Semiconductor gate-defined quantum dot arrays have emerged as a versatile platform for realizing generalized Fermi-Hubbard physics, one of the richest playgrounds in condensed matter physics. In this work, we employ a germanium 4×2 quantum dot array and show that the naturally occurring long-range Coulomb interaction can lead to exciton formation and transport. We tune the quantum dot ladder into two capacitively coupled channels and exploit Coulomb drag to probe the binding of electrons and holes. Specifically, we shuttle an electron through one leg of the ladder and observe that a hole is dragged along in the second leg under the right conditions. This corresponds to a transition from single-electron transport in one leg to exciton transport along the ladder. Our work paves the way for the study of excitonic states of matter in quantum dot arrays.

Long-range interactions play a key role in several phenomena of quantum physics and chemistry. To study these phenomena, analog quantum simulators provide an appealing alternative to classical numerical methods. Gate-defined quantum dots have been established as a platform for quantum simulation, but for those experiments the effect of long-range interactions between the electrons did not play a crucial role. Here we present a detailed experimental characterization of long-range electron-electron interactions in an array of gate-defined semiconductor quantum dots. We demonstrate significant interaction strength among electrons that are separated by up to four sites, and show that our theoretical prediction of the screening effects matches well the experimental results. Based on these findings, we investigate how long-range interactions in quantum dot arrays may be utilized for analog simulations of artificial quantum matter. We numerically show that about ten quantum dots are sufficient to observe binding for a one-dimensional H2-like molecule. These combined experimental and theoretical results pave the way for future quantum simulations with quantum dot arrays and benchmarks of numerical methods in quantum chemistry.

Quantum-mechanical correlations of interacting fermions result in the emergence of exotic phases. Magnetic phases naturally arise in the Mott-insulator regime of the Fermi-Hubbard model, where charges are localized and the spin degree of freedom remains. In this regime, the occurrence of phenomena such as resonating valence bonds, frustrated magnetism, and spin liquids is predicted. Quantum systems with engineered Hamiltonians can be used as simulators of such spin physics to provide insights beyond the capabilities of analytical methods and classical computers. To be useful, methods for the preparation of intricate many-body spin states and access to relevant observables are required. Here, we show the quantum simulation of magnetism in the Mott-insulator regime with a linear quantum-dot array. We characterize the energy spectrum for a Heisenberg spin chain, from which we can identify when the conditions for homogeneous exchange couplings are met. Next, we study the multispin coherence with global exchange oscillations in both the singlet and triplet subspace of the Heisenberg Hamiltonian. Last, we adiabatically prepare the low-energy global singlet of the homogeneous spin chain and probe it with two-spin singlet-triplet measurements on each nearest-neighbor pair and the correlations therein. The methods and control presented here open new opportunities for the simulation of quantum magnetism benefiting from the flexibility in tuning and layout of gate-defined quantum-dot arrays.

The spin of a single electron in a semiconductor quantum dot provides a well-controlled and long-lived qubit implementation. The electron charge in turn allows control of the position of individual electrons in a quantum dot array, and enables charge sensors to probe the charge configuration. Here we show that the Coulomb repulsion allows an initial charge transition to induce subsequent charge transitions, inducing a cascade of electron hops, like toppling dominoes. A cascade can transmit information along a quantum dot array over a distance that extends by far the effect of the direct Coulomb repulsion. We demonstrate that a cascade of electrons can be combined with Pauli spin blockade to read out distant spins and show results with potential for high fidelity using a remote charge sensor in a quadruple quantum dot device. We implement and analyse several operating modes for cascades and analyse their scaling behaviour. We also discuss the application of cascade-based spin readout to densely-packed two-dimensional quantum dot arrays with charge sensors placed at the periphery. The high connectivity of such arrays greatly improves the capabilities of quantum dot systems for quantum computation and simulation.

Electrostatically-defined semiconductor quantum dot arrays offer a promising platform for quantum computation and quantum simulation. However, crosstalk of gate voltages to dot potentials and interdot tunnel couplings complicates the tuning of the device parameters. To date, crosstalk to the dot potentials is routinely and efficiently compensated using so-called virtual gates, which are specific linear combinations of physical gate voltages. However, due to exponential dependence of tunnel couplings on gate voltages, crosstalk to the tunnel barriers is currently compensated through a slow iterative process. In this work, we show that the crosstalk on tunnel barriers can be efficiently characterized and compensated for, using the fact that the same exponential dependence applies to all gates. We demonstrate efficient calibration of crosstalk in a quadruple quantum dot array and define a set of virtual barrier gates, with which we show orthogonal control of all interdot tunnel couplings. Our method marks a key step forward in the scalability of the tuning process of large-scale quantum dot arrays.