Katja C. Nowack

Driven coherent oscillations of a single electron spin in a quantum dot

The ability to control the quantum state of a single electron spin in a quantum dot is at the heart of recent developments towards a scalable spin-based quantum computer. In combination with the recently demonstrated controlled exchange gate between two neighbouring spins, driven coherent single spin rotations would permit universal quantum operations. Here, we report the experimental realization of single electron spin rotations in a double quantum dot. First, we apply a continuous-wave oscillating magnetic field, generated on-chip, and observe electron spin resonance in spin-dependent transport measurements through the two dots. Next, we coherently control the quantum state of the electron spin by applying short bursts of the oscillating magnetic field and observe about eight oscillations of the spin state (so-called Rabi oscillations) during a microsecond burst. These results demonstrate the feasibility of operating single-electron spins in a quantum dot as quantum bits.

Coherent Control of a Single Electron Spin with Electric Fields

Manipulation of single spins is essential for spin-based quantum information processing. Electrical control instead of magnetic control is particularly appealing for this purpose, because electric fields are easy to generate locally on-chip. We experimentally realized coherent control of a single-electron spin in a quantum dot using an oscillating electric field generated by a local gate. The electric field induced coherent transitions (Rabi oscillations) between spin-up and spin-down with 90° rotations as fast as ∼55 nanoseconds. Our analysis indicated that the electrically induced spin transitions were mediated by the spin-orbit interaction. Taken together with the recently demonstrated coherent exchange of two neighboring spins, our results establish the feasibility of fully electrical manipulation of spin qubits.

Imaging currents in HgTe quantum wells in the quantum spin Hall regime

The quantum spin Hall (QSH) state is a state of matter characterized by a non-trivial topology of its band structure, and associated conducting edge channels. The QSH state was predicted and experimentally demonstrated to be realized in HgTe quantum wells. The existence of the edge channels has been inferred from local and non-local transport measurements in sufficiently small devices. Here we directly confirm the existence of the edge channels by imaging the magnetic fields produced by current flowing in large Hall bars made from HgTe quantum wells. These images distinguish between current that passes through each edge and the bulk. On tuning the bulk conductivity by gating or raising the temperature, we observe a regime in which the edge channels clearly coexist with the conducting bulk, providing input to the question of how ballistic transport may be limited in the edge channels. Our results represent a versatile method for characterization of new QSH materials systems.

Single-Shot Correlations and Two-Qubit Gate of Solid-State Spins

Independent readout of two single-spin qubits in quantum dots is achieved in an all-electrical setup. Measurement of coupled quantum systems plays a central role in quantum information processing. We have realized independent single-shot read-out of two electron spins in a double quantum dot. The read-out method is all-electrical, cross-talk between the two measurements is negligible, and read-out fidelities are ~86% on average. This allows us to directly probe the anticorrelations between two spins prepared in a singlet state and to demonstrate the operation of the two-qubit exchange gate on a complete set of basis states. The results provide a possible route to the realization and efficient characterization of multiqubit quantum circuits based on single quantum dot spins.

Spin Echo of a Single Electron Spin in a Quantum Dot

We report a measurement of the spin-echo decay of a single electron spin confined in a semiconductor quantum dot. When we tip the spin in the transverse plane via a magnetic field burst, it dephases in 37 ns due to the Larmor precession around a random effective field from the nuclear spins in the host material. We reverse this dephasing to a large extent via a spin-echo pulse, and find a spin-echo decay time of about 0.5 micros at 70 mT. These results are in the range of theoretical predictions of the electron spin coherence time governed by the electron-nuclear dynamics.

Locally enhanced conductivity due to the tetragonal domain structure in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerfaces.

The ability to control materials properties through interface engineering is demonstrated by the appearance of conductivity at the interface of certain insulators, most famously the {001} interface of the band insulators LaAlO3 and TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 (STO; refs 1, 2). Transport and other measurements in this system show a plethora of diverse physical phenomena. To better understand the interface conductivity, we used scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy to image the magnetic field locally generated by current in an interface. At low temperature, we found that the current flowed in conductive narrow paths oriented along the crystallographic axes, embedded in a less conductive background. The configuration of these paths changed on thermal cycling above the STO cubic-to-tetragonal structural transition temperature, implying that the local conductivity is strongly modified by the STO tetragonal domain structure. The interplay between substrate domains and the interface provides an additional mechanism for understanding and controlling the behaviour of heterostructures.

Nuclear spin effects in semiconductor quantum dots

The interaction of an electronic spin with its nuclear environment, an issue known as the central spin problem, has been the subject of considerable attention due to its relevance for spin-based quantum computation using semiconductor quantum dots. Independent control of the nuclear spin bath using nuclear magnetic resonance techniques and dynamic nuclear polarization using the central spin itself offer unique possibilities for manipulating the nuclear bath with significant consequences for the coherence and controlled manipulation of the central spin. Here we review some of the recent optical and transport experiments that have explored this central spin problem using semiconductor quantum dots. We focus on the interaction between 10(4)-10(6) nuclear spins and a spin of a single electron or valence-band hole. We also review the experimental techniques as well as the key theoretical ideas and the implications for quantum information science.

Locking electron spins into magnetic resonance by electron–nuclear feedback

When electrons are transported through a semiconductor quantum dot, they interact with nuclear spin in the host material. This interaction—often considered to be a nuisance—is now shown to provide a feedback mechanism that actively pulls the electron-spin Larmor frequency into resonance with that of an external microwave driving field.

Universal Phase Shift and Nonexponential Decay of Driven Single-Spin Oscillations

We study, both theoretically and experimentally, driven Rabi oscillations of a single electron spin coupled to a nuclear-spin bath. Because of the long correlation time of the bath, two unusual features are observed in the oscillations. The decay follows a power law, and the oscillations are shifted in phase by a universal value of approximately pi/4. These properties are well understood from a theoretical expression that we derive here in the static limit for the nuclear bath. This improved understanding of the coupled electron-nuclear system is important for future experiments using the electron spin as a qubit.

Images of Edge Current in InAs/GaSb Quantum Wells

Quantum spin Hall devices with edges much longer than several microns do not display ballistic transport; that is, their measured conductances are much less than e(2)/h per edge. We imaged edge currents in InAs/GaSb quantum wells with long edges and determined an effective edge resistance. Surprisingly, although the effective edge resistance is much greater than h/e(2), it is independent of temperature up to 30 K within experimental resolution. Known candidate scattering mechanisms do not explain our observation of an effective edge resistance that is large yet temperature independent.