Quantum computing with dangling bonds on a silicon surface

If a quantum computer is built, intractable problems such as factorization would be solved efficiently, with enormous ramifications for communication security. Promising technical advances have been made towards quantum computation, but the state of the art is embryonic at best. Ultimately a silicon quantum computer, which would capitalize on chips fabrication technology and could be hybridized with existing computers, is the preferred method for quantum computation, but quantum computing in bulk silicon remains a tough challenge. Here, we propose silicon quantum computing but on the surface rather than in bulk, which affords direct initialization, processing, and readout. The qubit is a dangling bond dimer created by selectively removing hydrogen atoms from the surface, and control is effected by creating local potential differences.