Low-frequency charge noise in Si/SiGe quantum dots

Electron spins in silicon have long coherence times and are a promising qubit platform. However, electric field noise in semiconductors poses a challenge for most single- and multiqubit operations in quantum-dot spin qubits. We investigate the dependence of low-frequency charge noise spectra on temperature and aluminum-oxide gate dielectric thickness in Si/SiGe quantum dots with overlapping gates. We find that charge noise increases with aluminum-oxide thickness. We also find strong dot-to-dot variations in the temperature dependence of the noise magnitude and spectrum. These findings suggest that each quantum dot experiences noise caused by a distinct ensemble of two-level systems, each of which has a nonuniform distribution of thermal activation energies. Taken together, our results suggest that charge noise in Si/SiGe quantum dots originates at least in part from a nonuniform distribution of two-level systems near the surface of the semiconductor.