Filippo Troiani

Engineering the coupling between molecular spin qubits by coordination chemistry

The ability to assemble weakly interacting subsystems is a prerequisite for implementing quantum information processing and generating controlled entanglement. In recent years, molecular nanomagnets have been proposed as suitable candidates for qubit encoding and manipulation. In particular, antiferromagnetic Cr7Ni rings behave as effective spin-1/2 systems at low temperature and show long decoherence times. Here, we show that these rings can be chemically linked to each other and that the coupling between their spins can be tuned by choosing the linker. We also present calculations that demonstrate how realistic microwave pulse sequences could be used to generate maximally entangled states in such molecules.

Molecular engineering of antiferromagnetic rings for quantum computation.

The substitution of one metal ion in a Cr-based molecular ring with dominant antiferromagnetic couplings allows the engineering of its level structure and ground-state degeneracy. Here we characterize a Cr7Ni molecular ring by means of low-temperature specific-heat and torque-magnetometry measurements, thus determining the microscopic parameters of the corresponding spin Hamiltonian. The energy spectrum and the suppression of the leakage-inducing S mixing render the Cr7Ni molecule a suitable candidate for the qubit implementation, as further substantiated by our quantum-gate simulations.

Exploiting exciton-exciton interactions in semiconductor quantum dots for quantum-information processing

We propose an all-optical implementation of quantum-information processing in semiconductor quantum dots, where electron-hole excitations (excitons) serve as the computational degrees of freedom (qubits). We show that the strong dot confinement leads to an overall enhancement of Coulomb correlations and to a strong renormalization of the excitonic states, which can be exploited for performing conditional and unconditional qubit operations.

Spin-Electric Coupling in Molecular Magnets

We study the triangular antiferromagnet Cu3 in external electric fields, using symmetry group arguments and a Hubbard model approach. We identify a spin-electric coupling caused by an interplay between spin exchange, spin-orbit interaction, and the chirality of the underlying spin texture of the molecular magnet. This coupling allows for the electric control of the spin (qubit) states, e.g., by using an STM tip or a microwave cavity. We propose an experimental test for identifying molecular magnets exhibiting spin-electric effects.

Single molecule magnets for quantum computation

We present recent achievements and perspectives for the encoding of qubits with molecular spin clusters.

Coherent population transfer in coupled semiconductor quantum dots

We propose a solid-state implementation of stimulated Raman adiabatic passage in two coupled semiconductor quantum dots. Proper combination of two pulsed laser fields allows the coherent carrier transfer between the two nanostructures without suffering significant losses due to environment coupling. By use of a general solution scheme for the carrier states in the double-dot structure, we identify the pertinent dot and laser parameters.

High-Finesse Optical Quantum Gates for Electron Spins in Artificial Molecules

A doped semiconductor double-quantum-dot molecule is proposed as a qubit realization. The quantum information is encoded in the electron spin, thus benefiting from the long relevant decoherence times; the enhanced flexibility of the molecular structure allows one to map the spin degrees of freedom onto the orbital ones and vice versa and opens the possibility for high-finesse (conditional and unconditional) quantum gates by means of stimulated Raman adiabatic passages.

Molecular nanomagnets as quantum simulators.

Quantum simulators are controllable systems that can be used to simulate other quantum systems. Here we focus on the dynamics of a chain of molecular qubits with interposed antiferromagnetic dimers. We theoretically show that its dynamics can be controlled by means of uniform magnetic pulses and used to mimic the evolution of other quantum systems, including fermionic ones. We propose two proof-of-principle experiments based on the simulation of the Ising model in a transverse field and of the quantum tunneling of the magnetization in a spin-1 system.

Quantum phases in artificial molecules

The few-particle state of carriers confined in a quantum dot is controlled by the balance between their kinetic energy and their Coulomb correlation. In coupled quantum dots, both can be tuned by varying the inter-dot tunneling and interactions. Using a theoretical approach based on the diagonalization of the exact Hamiltonian, we show that the transitions between different quantum phases can be induced through the inter-dot coupling both for a system of few electrons (or holes) and for aggregates of electrons and holes. We discuss their manifestations, in addition energy spectra (accessible through capacitance or transport experiments) and optical spectra.

Spectral diffusion and line broadening in single self-assembled GaAs∕AlGaAs quantum dot photoluminescence

We experimentally and theoretically investigate the photoluminescence broadening of different excitonic complexes in single self-assembled GaAs∕AlGaAs quantum dots. We demonstrate that the excitonic fine-structure splitting leads to a sizable line broadening whenever the detection is not resolved in polarization. The residual broadening in polarized measurements is systematically larger for the exciton with respect to both the trion and the biexciton recombination. The experimental data agree with calculations of the quantum confined Stark effect induced by charge defects in the quantum dot (QD) environment, denoting the role of the QD spectator carrier rearrangement in reducing the perturbation of the fluctuating environment.