--- title: Uncovering the Hidden Disorder in Silicon Quantum Computers description: Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory's Chicago Quantum Computing Testbed studied an Intel-fabricated 12-qubit-class silicon quantum dot processor and... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/uncovering-the-hidden-disorder-in-silicon-quantum-computers-mirah9ri2 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Uncovering the Hidden Disorder in Silicon Quantum Computers | daily.dev og:description: Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory's Chicago Quantum Computing Testbed studied an Intel-fabricated 12-qubit-class silicon quantum dot processor and... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/uncovering-the-hidden-disorder-in-silicon-quantum-computers-mirah9ri2 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/MiRAH9rI2.png og:image:alt: Uncovering the Hidden Disorder in Silicon Quantum Computers og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Uncovering the Hidden Disorder in Silicon Quantum Computers **[The Quantum Insider](https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory's Chicago Quantum Computing Testbed studied an Intel-fabricated 12-qubit-class silicon quantum dot processor and found that atomic-scale disorder in the alloyed quantum well is the main source of variability in valley splitting, a key factor limiting silicon spin-qubit fidelity. Using electrical spectroscopy, the team mapped valley splitting across the material and traced its variation to random atomic-scale fluctuations rather than an unknown cause. The findings reframe valley-splitting variability as a materials-engineering problem, offering a path toward more consistent, higher-fidelity silicon qubits. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What causes valley splitting variability in silicon spin qubits? Random atomic-scale disorder in the alloyed quantum well is the dominant source of valley splitting variability in silicon spin qubits. Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory's Chicago Quantum Computing Testbed mapped valley splitting across an Intel-fabricated 12-qubit-class silicon quantum dot processor using electrical spectroscopy, correlating nanoscale variations with distance to isolate this atomic-scale fluctuation as the root cause. _Follow materials-driven breakthroughs in quantum hardware reliability on daily.dev._ ### Why does low valley splitting cause errors in silicon spin qubits? Low valley splitting allows an electron to leak into unwanted valley states instead of remaining in the spin states used for computation, causing errors and loss of fidelity. Valley splitting is the energy difference between quantum valley states in silicon, and it directly competes with the spin states that encode qubit information. _Researchers tracking qubit fidelity challenges can follow this research area on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Inside SQC’s Research on a Key Quantum Scaling Problem](https://daily.dev/posts/inside-sqc-s-research-on-a-key-quantum-scaling-problem-pzqriewu5) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Turning crystal flaws into quantum highways: A new route towards scalable solid-state qubits](https://daily.dev/posts/turning-crystal-flaws-into-quantum-highways-a-new-route-towards-scalable-solid-state-qubits-oqvt1vn6b) · Phys.org · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Argonne and Intel Deploy 12-Qubit Quantum Dot Device](https://daily.dev/posts/argonne-and-intel-deploy-12-qubit-quantum-dot-device-bd5nkopwd) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A New Route to Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computers](https://daily.dev/posts/a-new-route-to-fault-tolerant-quantum-computers-jbrnmbtor) · Embedded.com · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#science](https://daily.dev/tags/science), [#quantum-computing](https://daily.dev/tags/quantum-computing), [#intel](https://daily.dev/tags/intel) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/uncovering-the-hidden-disorder-in-silicon-quantum-computers-mirah9ri2) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Uncovering the Hidden Disorder in Silicon Quantum Computers","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/uncovering-the-hidden-disorder-in-silicon-quantum-computers-mirah9ri2","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/uncovering-the-hidden-disorder-in-silicon-quantum-computers-mirah9ri2"},"datePublished":"2026-08-12T14:49:38.428Z","dateModified":"2026-08-12T14:49:58.482Z","description":"Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory's Chicago Quantum Computing Testbed studied an Intel-fabricated 12-qubit-class silicon quantum dot processor and...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--HRgLpUt6--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2003","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--HRgLpUt6--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2003","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Quantum Insider","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Quantum Insider","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/7b14a6b34c1b464c9e8a88d9a0dac951","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/uncovering-the-hidden-disorder-in-silicon-quantum-computers-mirah9ri2","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"science,quantum-computing,intel","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Quantum Insider","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Uncovering the Hidden Disorder in Silicon Quantum Computers"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/uncovering-the-hidden-disorder-in-silicon-quantum-computers-mirah9ri2#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What causes valley splitting variability in silicon spin qubits?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Random atomic-scale disorder in the alloyed quantum well is the dominant source of valley splitting variability in silicon spin qubits. Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory's Chicago Quantum Computing Testbed mapped valley splitting across an Intel-fabricated 12-qubit-class silicon quantum dot processor using electrical spectroscopy, correlating nanoscale variations with distance to isolate this atomic-scale fluctuation as the root cause. Follow materials-driven breakthroughs in quantum hardware reliability on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why does low valley splitting cause errors in silicon spin qubits?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Low valley splitting allows an electron to leak into unwanted valley states instead of remaining in the spin states used for computation, causing errors and loss of fidelity. Valley splitting is the energy difference between quantum valley states in silicon, and it directly competes with the spin states that encode qubit information. Researchers tracking qubit fidelity challenges can follow this research area on daily.dev."}}]} ```