Spin Qubits: Wrangling Electrons for Quantum Computing

An episode of the Thinking On Paper podcast, hosted by Mark Fielding and Jeremy Gilbertson, titled "Spin Qubits: Wrangling Electrons for Quantum Computing" was published on November 8, 2025 and runs 4 minutes.

November 8, 2025 ·4m · Thinking On Paper

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Summary

What is a spin qubit?Brandon Severin (CEO, Conductor Quantum) explains: Take one electron. Put it in a magnetic field. It acts like a tiny compass needle with two orientations—spin-up and spin-down.Those are your 0 and 1.Isolate that electron on a gated silicon device. Hit it with precise pulses. You can flip, hold, and combine those states (superposition). That's quantum computing.The advantage: Spin qubits use the same fabrication tech as classical transistors.Modern NVIDIA and Apple chips have tens of billions of transistors. The same infrastructure could eventually produce comparable numbers of spin qubits. Each qubit is just one electron you can address and control.We talk about:- How spin-up and spin-down create quantum states- Why silicon fabrication gives spin qubits massive scaling potential- How you flip electron spins with precise pulses- What superposition means at the electron level- Why spin qubits could scale faster than superconducting or trapped ion systems- The challenge: controlling billions of individual electrons with precisionThe promise: If we can print 50 billion transistors on a chip, we could eventually print 50 billion qubits.That's the quantum leap spin qubits are betting on.---Guest: Brandon Severin, CEO Conductor QuantumTopics: Spin qubits, quantum computing, electrons, silicon fabrication, superposition, scalingWatch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LeN3VBvG0o&t=1sCheers,Mark & Jeremy--Other ways to connect with us:⁠Listen to every podcast⁠Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠Follow us on ⁠X⁠Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Read our ⁠Substack⁠Email: [email protected]

Episode Description

What is a spin qubit?

Brandon Severin (CEO, Conductor Quantum) explains: Take one electron. Put it in a magnetic field. It acts like a tiny compass needle with two orientations—spin-up and spin-down.

Those are your 0 and 1.

Isolate that electron on a gated silicon device. Hit it with precise pulses. You can flip, hold, and combine those states (superposition). That's quantum computing.

The advantage: Spin qubits use the same fabrication tech as classical transistors.

Modern NVIDIA and Apple chips have tens of billions of transistors. The same infrastructure could eventually produce comparable numbers of spin qubits. Each qubit is just one electron you can address and control.

We talk about:

- How spin-up and spin-down create quantum states

- Why silicon fabrication gives spin qubits massive scaling potential

- How you flip electron spins with precise pulses

- What superposition means at the electron level

- Why spin qubits could scale faster than superconducting or trapped ion systems

- The challenge: controlling billions of individual electrons with precision

The promise: If we can print 50 billion transistors on a chip, we could eventually print 50 billion qubits.

That's the quantum leap spin qubits are betting on.

---

Guest: Brandon Severin, CEO Conductor Quantum

Topics: Spin qubits, quantum computing, electrons, silicon fabrication, superposition, scaling