Spin manipulation of free two-dimensional electrons in Si/SiGe quantum wells

Understanding the mechanisms controlling the spin coherence of electrons in semiconductors is essential for designing structures for quantum computing applications. Using a pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer, we measure spin echoes and deduce a spin coherence time (T2) of up to 3 mus for an ensemble of free two-dimensional electrons confined in a Si/SiGe quantum well. The decoherence can be understood in terms of momentum scattering causing fluctuating effective Rashba fields. Further confining the electrons into a nondegenerate (other than spin) ground state of a quantum dot can be expected to eliminate this decoherence mechanism.     

Optical orientation and spin relaxation of resident electrons in n-doped InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

We report on optical orientation of electrons in n-doped InAs/GaAs quantum dots. Under non-resonant cw optical pumping, we measure a negative circular polarization of the luminescence of charged excitons (or trions) at low temperature (T=10 K). The dynamics of the recombination and of the circular polarization is studied by time-resolved spectroscopy. We discuss a simple theoretical model for the trion relaxation, that accounts for this remarkable polarization reversal. The interpretation relies on the bypass of Pauli blocking allowed by the anisotropic electron–hole exchange. Eventually, the spin relaxation time of doping electrons trapped in quantum dots is measured by a non-resonant pump–probe experiment.     

Hopping photoconduction and its long-time kinetics in a heterosystem with Ge quantum dots in Si

The effect of interband-transition-inducing illumination on the hole hopping conduction along a two-dimensional array of Ge quantum dots in Si was studied. It is found that the photoconductance has either positive or negative sign depending on the initial filling of quantum dots with holes. In the course of illumination and after switching off the light, long-time photoconduction kinetics was observed (10²?10⁴s at T=4.2 K). The results are discussed in terms of a model based on the spatial separation of nonequilibrium electrons and holes in a potential relief formed by positively charged dots. The effect of equalization of potential barrier heights as a result of photohole capture by the charged quantum dots during the process of illumination and relaxation is suggested as an additional factor for explaining the phenomenon of persistent conduction.     

Spin relaxation and decoherence of holes in quantum dots

We investigate heavy-hole spin relaxation and decoherence in quantum dots in perpendicular magnetic fields. We show that at low temperatures the spin decoherence time is 2 times longer than the spin relaxation time. We find that the spin relaxation time for heavy holes can be comparable to or even longer than that for electrons in strongly two-dimensional quantum dots. We discuss the difference in the magnetic-field dependence of the spin relaxation rate due to Rashba or Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling for systems with positive (i.e., GaAs quantum dots) or negative (i.e., InAs quantum dots) g factor.     

Isotopically engineered Si and Ge for spintronics and quantum computation

Si, Ge as well as SiGe structures are the promising materials for spintronics and quantum computation due to the fact that in both crystals only one isotope (²⁹Si and ⁷³Ge) has nuclear spin. As a result, isotope engineering of Si and Ge permits to control the density of nuclear spins and vary the spin coherence time, a crucial parameter in spintronics. In the first part we discuss the NMR study of nuclear spin decoherence in Ge single crystals with different abundance of the ⁷³Ge isotope. It was observed that the slow component of the dephasing process is elongated with depletion of Ge crystal with isotope ⁷³Ge. The second part is devoted to the development of the Kane's model of nuclear spin-based quantum computer, which uses the nuclear spin of ³¹P impurity atoms in a ²⁸Si matrix as quantum bits (qubits). We discuss a new method of placing ³¹P atoms in a ²⁸Si based on neutron-transmutation-doping of isotopically engineered Si and Ge. In the proposed structure, interqubit coupling is due to indirect hyperfine interaction of ³¹P nuclear spins with electrons localized in a ²⁸Si quasi-one-dimensional nanowire, which allows one to control the coupling between distant qubits.     

Spin interactions,relaxation and decoherence in quantum dots

We review recent studies on spin decoherence of electrons and holes in quasi-two-dimensional quantum dots, as well as electron-spin relaxation in nanowire quantum dots. The spins of confined electrons and holes are considered major candidates for the realization of quantum information storage and processing devices, provided that sufficiently long coherence and relaxation times can be achieved. The results presented here indicate that this prerequisite might be realized in both electron and hole quantum dots, taking one large step towards quantum computation with spin qubits.     

单层正三角锯齿型石墨烯量子点的电子结构和磁性

采用基于密度泛函理论的广义梯度近似(GGA),对不同尺寸(N=2—11)的单层正三角锯齿型石墨烯量子点(Z_N -GNDs)的结构进行优化,得到与实验数据较好符合的晶格常数,进一步计算得到不同尺寸下体系的自旋多重度、磁矩、电子态密度以及自旋电子密度.结果表明:所有体系都呈现金属性,在尺寸较小的体系中量子尺寸效应对电子结构的影响比较明显;与单层石墨烯片一样,sp²杂化作用和非键态电子在量子点中仍起到非常重要的作用;费米能级上有自旋向上的电子分布,体系的 关键词： 石墨烯 量子点 电子结构 磁性     

On the environmental decoherence and spin interference in mesoscopic loop structures

Mechanisms of ‘environmental decoherence’ such as surface scattering, Elliot–Yafet process and precession mechanisms, as well as their influence on the spin phase relaxation are considered and compared. It is shown that the ‘spin ballistic’ regime is possible, when the phase relaxation length for the spin part of the wave function (L^(s)) is much greater than the phase relaxation length for the ‘orbital part’ (L^(e)). In the presence of an additional magnetic field, the spin part of the electron's wave function (WF) acquires a phase shift due to additional spin precession about that field. If the structure length L is chosen to be L^(s)>L>L^(e), it is possible to ‘wash out’ the quantum interference related to the phase coherence of the ‘orbital part’ of the WF, retaining at the same time that related to the phase coherence of the spin part and, hence, to reveal corresponding conductance oscillations.     

Spin-polarization and magnetoresistance in graphene-based resonant-tunnelling structures

Spin-dependent transport of relativistic electrons through graphene based double barrier (well) structures with ferromagnetic electrodes have been theoretically investigated. Electron transmission with different spin states is strongly influenced by the incident wave vector, the height (depth) of the barrier and the separation between them. When the angle of the incident electrons is varied from zero to ±π/2, spin polarization varies from zero to 100% with characteristic oscillations that indicate spin anisotropy. Due to Klein tunnelling, spin-polarization is always zero for normal incident electrons; high spin-polarization only occurs at large incident angles. Because the resonance features in the spin-dependent transmission result from resonant electron states in wells or hole states in barriers, the conductance can reach e²/h in this resonant-tunnelling structure.     

Preparing, manipulating, and measuring quantum states on a chip

We use gate voltage control of the exchange interaction to prepare, manipulate, and measure two-electron spin states in a GaAs double quantum dot. By placing two electrons in a single dot at low temperatures we prepare the system in a spin singlet state. The spin singlet is spatially separated by transferring an electron to an adjacent dot. The spatially separated spin singlet state dephases in due to the contact hyperfine interaction with the GaAs host nuclei. To combat the hyperfine dephasing, we develop quantum control techniques based on fast electrical control of the exchange interaction. We demonstrate coherent spin-state rotations in a singlet–triplet qubit and harness the coherent rotations to implement a singlet–triplet spin echo refocusing pulse sequence. The singlet–triplet spin echo extends the spin coherence time to .     

Half-integer filling-factor states in quantum dots

The emergence of half-integer filling-factor states, such as upsilon=5/2 and 7/2, is found in quantum dots by using numerical many-electron methods. These states have interesting similarities and differences with their counterstates found in the two-dimensional electron gas. The upsilon=1/2 states in quantum dots are shown to have high overlaps with the composite fermion states. The lower overlap of the Pfaffian state indicates that electrons might not be paired in quantum dot geometry. The predicted upsilon=5/2 state has a high spin polarization, which may have an impact on the spin transport through quantum dot devices.     

A controlled-NOT gate in a chain of qubits embedded in a spin field-effect transistor and its process tomography

We have investigated the realizability of the controlled-not (cnot) gate and characterized the gate operation by quantum process tomography for a chain of qubits, realized by electrons confined in self-assembled quantum dots embedded in the spin field-effect transistor. We have shown that the cnot gate operation and its process tomography are performable by using the spin exchange interaction and several local qubit rotations within the coherence time of qubits. Moreover we have taken into account the fluctuation of operation time and the imperfection of polarization of channel electrons as sources of decay of fidelity. The cnot process fidelity decreases only by at most 5% by the fluctuation of the operation time and its values as high as 0.49 and 0.72 are obtained for the channel spin polarizations of 0.6 and 0.8, respectively.     

Depolarization of the photoluminescence and spin relaxation in n-doped GaAs

Optically oriented electron spin lifetime in n-doped gallium arsenide was measured via depolarization of the photoluminescence (PL) in a transverse magnetic field (Hanle effect). In order to measure the PL polarization, a time-resolved pump-probe experiment, where a pump pulse generates spin-polarized electrons and a probe pulse monitors their polarization, was employed. The PL polarization in dependences of the pump-probe delay, external magnetic field as well as of the sample temperature was studied. The PL polarization was found to decay exponentially with the pump-probe delay, from which the spin lifetime of the electrons was measured. The measured value was found to depend on the strength of the magnetic field and sample temperature.     

Giant magnetoresistance in an electrochemically synthesized regimented array of nickel quantum dots

Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) due toremotespin dependent scattering of electrons has been observed in an electrochemically synthesized structure consisting of a two-dimensional, quasi-periodic array of nickel dots (diameter ∼100 Å) overlayed with a thin copper layer. Current flows exclusively in the copper layer, but the electrons scatter from the magnetic moments on the remote, underlying nickel quantum dots. Since the scattering cross-section depends on the magnetization of the dots, the resistance of the structure can be altered with a magnetic field which then gives rise to the GMR. The magnetoresistance is about 3% of the zero-field resistance up to a magnetic flux density of 2 tesla at room temperature.     

Hysteresis, spin transitions, and magnetic ordering in the fractional quantum Hall effect

We have studied the development of metastable properties associated with a nearly spin-degenerate two-dimensional electron system. Application of large hydrostatic pressure significantly reduces the g-factor experienced by electrons in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure, and various fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) states are found to undergo transition to a spin-unpolarized ground state. In case of even numerator FQHE states, the spin transitions are accompanied by hysteresis and nonlinearity in the magnetotransport. These results strongly support a recent theory of quantum Hall magnetism in which competition between spin-polarized and spin-unpolarized ground states leads to an ordered phase that exhibits ferromagnetic correlation.     

Quantum spin and charge pumping through double quantum dots with ferromagnetic leads

The pumping of electrons through double quantum dots (DQDs) attached to ferromagnetic leads have been theoretically investigated by using the nonequilibrium Green?s function method. It is found that an oscillating electric field applied to the quantum dot may give rise to the pumped charge and spin currents. In the case that both leads are ferromagnet, a pure spin current can be generated in the antiparallel magnetization configuration, where no net charge current exists. The possibility of manipulating the pumped spin current is explored by tuning the dot level and the ac field. By making use of various tunings, the magnitude and direction of the pumped spin current can be well controlled. For the case that only one lead is ferromagnetic, both of the charge and spin currents can be pumped and flow in opposite directions on the average. The control of the magnitude and direction of the pumped charge and spin currents is also discussed by means of the magnetic flux threading through the DQD ring.     

Spin relaxation and antiferromagnetic coupling in semiconductor quantum dots

We report carrier spin dynamics in highly uniform self-assembled InAs quantum dots and the observation of antiferromagnetic coupling between semiconductor quantum dots. The spin relaxation times in the ground state and the first excited state were measured to be 1.0 and 0.6 ns, respectively, without the disturbance of inhomogeneous broadening. The measured spin relaxation time decreases rapidly from 1.1 ns at 10 K to 200 ps at 130 K. This large change in the spin relaxation time is well-explained in terms of the mechanism of acoustic phonon emission. In coupled quantum dots, the formation of antiferromagnetic coupling is directly observed. Electron spins are found to flip at 80 ps after photoexcitation via the interdot exchange interaction. The antiferromagnetic coupling exists at temperatures lower than 50–80 K. A model calculation based on the Heitler–London approximation supports the finding that the antiferromagnetic coupling is observable at low temperature. These carrier spin features in quantum dots are suitable for the future quantum computation.     

Spin transport and relaxation in graphene

We review our recent work on spin injection, transport and relaxation in graphene. The spin injection and transport in single layer graphene (SLG) were investigated using nonlocal magnetoresistance (MR) measurements. Spin injection was performed using either transparent contacts (Co/SLG) or tunneling contacts (Co/MgO/SLG). With tunneling contacts, the nonlocal MR was increased by a factor of ∼1000 and the spin injection/detection efficiency was greatly enhanced from ∼1% (transparent contacts) to ∼30%. Spin relaxation was investigated on graphene spin valves using nonlocal Hanle measurements. For transparent contacts, the spin lifetime was in the range of 50-100 ps. The effects of surface chemical doping showed that for spin lifetimes in the order of 100 ps, charged impurity scattering (Au) was not the dominant mechanism for spin relaxation. While using tunneling contacts to suppress the contact-induced spin relaxation, we observed the spin lifetimes as long as 771 ps at room temperature, 1.2 ns at 4 K in SLG, and 6.2 ns at 20 K in bilayer graphene (BLG). Furthermore, contrasting spin relaxation behaviors were observed in SLG and BLG. We found that Elliot-Yafet spin relaxation dominated in SLG at low temperatures whereas Dyakonov-Perel spin relaxation dominated in BLG at low temperatures. Gate tunable spin transport was studied using the SLG property of gate tunable conductivity and incorporating different types of contacts (transparent and tunneling contacts). Consistent with theoretical predictions, the nonlocal MR was proportional to the SLG conductivity for transparent contacts and varied inversely with the SLG conductivity for tunneling contacts. Finally, bipolar spin transport in SLG was studied and an electron-hole asymmetry was observed for SLG spin valves with transparent contacts, in which nonlocal MR was roughly independent of DC bias current for electrons, but varied significantly with DC bias current for holes. These results are very important for the use of graphene for spin-based logic and information storage applications.     

Optical control of spin coherence in singly charged (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots

Electron spin coherence has been generated optically in n-type modulation doped (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) which contain on average a single electron per dot. The coherence arises from resonant excitation of the QDs by circularly polarized laser pulses, creating a coherent superposition of an electron and a trion. Time dependent Faraday rotation is used to probe the spin precession of the optically oriented electrons about a transverse magnetic field. The coherence generation can be controlled by pulse intensity, being most efficient for (2n+1)pi pulses.     

A tunable spatial spin splitter based on a spin–orbit-coupling modulated magnetic nanostructure

We investigate theoretically the spin-dependent Goos–Hänchen (GH) effect in a magnetic nanostructure modulated by spin–orbit coupling (SOC), which can be experimentally realized by depositing a ferromagnetic (FM) stripe and a Schottky-metal (SM) stripe on the top and bottom of an InAs/Al_xIn_1?xAs heterostructure, respectively. We consider two kinds of different SOCs (Rashba and Dresselhaus types), and calculate the GH shift and its spin polarization for the electrons across the device. Results show that the GH shift still is spin-polarized after including the SOC, and the behavior of the spin-polarized electrons can be manipulated by the Rashba and/or Dresselhaus SOC. These interesting properties provide an alternative scheme for spatially realizing spin injection into a semiconductor, and the magnetic nanostructure can be employed as a controllable spatial spin splitter for a spin-polarized source in spintronics.