Engineering topological states in atom-based semiconductor quantum dots

The realization of controllable fermionic quantum systems via quantum simulation is instrumental for exploring many of the most intriguing effects in condensed-matter physics1–3. Semiconductor quantum dots are particularly promising for quantum simulation as they can be engineered to achieve strong quantum correlations. However, although simulation of the Fermi–Hubbard model4 and Nagaoka ferromagnetism5 have been reported before, the simplest one-dimensional model of strongly correlated topological matter, the many-body Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) model6–11, has so far remained elusive—mostly owing to the challenge of precisely engineering long-range interactions between electrons to reproduce the chosen Hamiltonian. Here we show that for precision-placed atoms in silicon with strong Coulomb confinement, we can engineer a minimum of six all-epitaxial in-plane gates to tune the energy levels across a linear array of ten quantum dots to realize both the trivial and the topological phases of the many-body SSH model. The strong on-site energies (about 25 millielectronvolts) and the ability to engineer gates with subnanometre precision in a unique staggered design allow us to tune the ratio between intercell and intracell electron transport to observe clear signatures of a topological phase with two conductance peaks at quarter-filling, compared with the ten conductance peaks of the trivial phase. The demonstration of the SSH model in a fermionic system isomorphic to qubits showcases our highly controllable quantum system and its usefulness for future simulations of strongly interacting electrons.