Concept for a Defect Center-Based Quantum Computer Based on a Substrate of Group IV Elements Building Qubits From Flaws in Diamond and Silicon

This patent sets out a design for a quantum computer that stores and processes information using atomic-scale defects in materials like diamond and silicon. It comes from SaxonQ GmbH, a German company developing room-temperature, portable quantum computers.

The Problem

A quantum computer stores information in qubits, which can represent combinations of states that ordinary bits cannot, opening the door to solving certain problems far faster. Many leading quantum machines need to be cooled to near absolute zero, which makes them large, costly, and hard to deploy outside specialist labs. Certain crystal defects, most famously the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond, can hold quantum information at room temperature, which is attractive for compact, mobile machines. The challenge is to turn isolated defects into a working computer: you need to control individual defects, link distant ones together, and read results out reliably, all in a manufacturable design.

What This Invention Does

The patent describes a concept for a quantum computer built around defect centers such as nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond, or comparable centers in silicon and silicon carbide. Each processing unit pairs a qubit that acts as a terminal with several nuclear quantum dots, typically the spins of nearby atomic nuclei, that carry out the actual quantum operations. The design adds a structure the inventor calls a quantum bus, which entangles defects that sit far apart so they can work together as one machine, along with the control wiring, selection mechanisms, and gating methods needed to address individual defects and read out a computation. The filing covers the building blocks, the larger registers assembled from them, the quantum bus, and the methods to fabricate and operate the device.

Key Features

• Defect-center qubits. Information is held in crystal defects such as nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond or similar centers in silicon and silicon carbide.
• Group IV substrate. The design uses Group IV element materials, the same family as the silicon behind ordinary chips.
• Nuclear quantum dots. Nearby nuclear spins serve as the working memory that executes operations.
• Quantum bus. A dedicated structure entangles distant defects so they can compute together.
• Full stack. The filing covers the components, the registers, the control wiring, and the methods to build and run them.

Who Is Behind It

The applicant is SaxonQ GmbH, a company based in Leipzig, Germany, working on quantum computers based on nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond that aim to operate at room temperature and in portable form. The named inventor is Bernd Burchard. This filing is a divisional application from an earlier related Australian application.

Why It Matters

Most quantum computers today are confined to heavily cooled, fixed installations, so an approach that works at room temperature could make the technology far easier to deploy in the field. Defect centers in diamond and silicon offer a path to compact machines built on familiar semiconductor materials. Protecting the design in Australia supports the company’s research and any commercial activity in the local market as quantum computing develops.

Related Concepts

• Quantum computing – the broader field this design belongs to.
• Qubit – the basic unit of quantum information.
• Nitrogen-vacancy center – the diamond defect used as a qubit.
• Quantum entanglement – the link the quantum bus creates between distant qubits.
• Spin qubit – the use of particle spin to store quantum information.

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AU 2026201963 was published in the Australian Official Journal of Patents on 2 April 2026 and is open for public inspection. Patent applications represent inventions that are sought to be protected and do not necessarily reflect commercially available products.