Efficient multiqubit entanglement via a spin-bus

We propose an experimentally feasible architecture with controllable long-range couplings built up from local exchange interactions. The scheme consists of a spin-bus, with strong, always-on interactions, coupled dynamically to external qubits of the Loss and DiVincenzo type. Long-range correlations are enabled by a spectral gap occurring in a finite-size chain. The bus can also form a hub for multiqubit entangling operations. We show how multiqubit gates may be used to efficiently generate $W$-states (an important entanglement resource). The spin-bus therefore provides a route for scalable solid-state quantum computation, using currently available experimental resources.