Excitonic energy shell structure of self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots

Approaching a fully-polarized state of nuclear spins in a solid

Magnetic noise of atomic nuclear spins is a major source of decoherence in solid-state spin qubits. In theory, near-unity nuclear spin polarization can eliminate decoherence of the electron spin qubit, while turning the nuclei into a useful quantum information resource. However, achieving sufficiently high nuclear polarizations has remained an evasive goal. Here we implement a nuclear spin polarization protocol which combines strong optical pumping and fast electron tunneling. Nuclear polarizations well above 95% are generated in GaAs semiconductor quantum dots on a timescale of 1 minute. The technique is compatible with standard quantum dot device designs, where highly-polarized nuclear spins can simplify implementations of qubits and quantum memories, as well as offer a testbed for studies of many-body quantum dynamics and magnetism.

Theory of Excitons in Gated Bilayer Graphene Quantum Dots

We present a theory of excitons in gated bilayer graphene (BLG) quantum dots (QDs). Electrical gating of BLG opens an energy gap, turning this material into an electrically tunable semiconductor. Unlike in laterally gated semiconductor QDs, where electrons are attracted and holes repelled, we show here that lateral structuring of metallic gates results in a gated lateral QD confining both electrons and holes. Using an accurate atomistic approach and exact diagonalization tools, we describe strongly interacting electrons and holes forming an electrically tunable exciton. We find these excitons to be different from those found in semiconductor QDs and nanocrystals, with exciton energy tunable by voltage from the terahertz to far infrared (FIR) range. The conservation of spin, valley, and orbital angular momentum results in an exciton fine structure with a band of dark low-energy states, making this system a promising candidate for storage, detection and emission of photons in the terahertz range.

Giant orbital magnetic moments and paramagnetic shift in artificial relativistic atoms and molecules

Materials such as graphene and topological insulators host massless Dirac fermions that enable the study of relativistic quantum phenomena. Single quantum dots and coupled quantum dots formed with massless Dirac fermions can be viewed as artificial relativistic atoms and molecules, respectively. Such structures offer a unique testbed to study atomic and molecular physics in the ultrarelativistic regime (particle speed close to the speed of light). Here we use a scanning tunnelling microscope to create and probe single and coupled electrostatically defined graphene quantum dots to unravel the magnetic-field responses of artificial relativistic nanostructures. We observe a giant orbital Zeeman splitting and orbital magnetic moment up to ~70 meV T^-1 and ~600μ_B (μ_B, Bohr magneton) in single graphene quantum dots. For coupled graphene quantum dots, Aharonov-Bohm oscillations and a strong Van Vleck paramagnetic shift of ~20 meV T^-2 are observed. Our findings provide fundamental insights into relativistic quantum dot states, which can be potentially leveraged for use in quantum information science.

Magneto-Optics of a Weyl Semimetal beyond the Conical Band Approximation: Case Study of TaP

Landau-level spectroscopy, the optical analysis of electrons in materials subject to a strong magnetic field, is a versatile probe of the electronic band structure and has been successfully used in the identification of novel states of matter such as Dirac electrons, topological materials or Weyl semimetals. The latter arise from a complex interplay between crystal symmetry, spin-orbit interaction, and inverse ordering of electronic bands. Here, we report on unusual Landau-level transitions in the monopnictide TaP that decrease in energy with increasing magnetic field. We show that these transitions arise naturally at intermediate energies in time-reversal-invariant Weyl semimetals where the Weyl nodes are formed by a partially gapped nodal-loop in the band structure. We propose a simple theoretical model for electronic bands in these Weyl materials that captures the collected magneto-optical data to great extent.

Macroscopic Singlet-Triplet Qubit in Synthetic Spin-One Chain in Semiconductor Nanowires

We show here how to create macroscopic quantum states in a semiconductor device: a chain of InAs quantum dots embedded in an InP nanowire. Filling the nanowire with 4 electrons per dot creates a synthetic spin-one chain, with four-fold degenerate topological ground state protected by a Haldane gap. The four states correspond to two spin-½ quasiparticles localised at the ends of the macroscopic wire. The quasiparticle spins are mapped onto a robust, macroscopic, singlet-triplet qubit. These predictions are supported by a microscopic theory and extensive numerical simulations.

Energy shell structure in a dielectric elliptic microcavity

An energy shell structure depending on eccentricity is analyzed in a dielectric elliptic microcavity. Through the analysis, it is explicated that the energy shell structure is governed by classical constant actions of periodic orbits. For clarification, the relation between dominances of the periodic orbits and bifurcation behaviors are obtained and the length spectra based on eigenvalues computed by a numerical method are compared with the exact lengths of the periodic orbits obtained by analytic calculations. By matching effective wave numbers obtained from the periodic orbit lengths to exact wave numbers of stationary states in closed and open cavities, we find deviations provoked from the openness. We show that these deviations are caused by additional phase factors in the Einstein-Brillouin-Keller quantization.

Electronic and optical properties of core-shell nanowires in a magnetic field

The electronic and optical properties of zincblende nanowires are investigated in the presence of a uniform magnetic field directed along the [001] growth direction within the k · p method. We focus our numerical study on core-shell nanowires consisting of the III-V materials GaAs, Al(x)Ga(1-x)As and (Al(y)Ga(1-y))₀.₅₁In₀.₄₉P. Nanowires with electrons confined in the core exhibit a Fock-Darwin-like spectrum, whereas nanowires with electrons confined in the shell show Aharonov-Bohm oscillations. Thus, by properly choosing the core and the shell materials of the nanowire, the optical properties in a magnetic field can be tuned in very different ways.

Valence band offset, strain and shape effects on confined states in self-assembled InAs/InP and InAs/GaAs quantum dots

I present a systematic study of self-assembled InAs/InP and InAs/GaAs quantum dot single-particle and many-body properties as a function of the quantum dot-surrounding matrix valence band offset. I use an atomistic, empirical tight-binding approach and perform numerically demanding calculations for half-million-atom nanosystems. I demonstrate that the overall confinement in quantum dots is a non-trivial interplay of two key factors: strain effects and the valence band offset. I show that strain effects determine both the peculiar structure of confined hole states of lens type InAs/GaAs quantum dots and the characteristic 'shell-like' structure of confined hole states in the commonly considered 'low-strain' lens type InAs/InP quantum dot. I also demonstrate that strain leads to single-band-like behavior of hole states of disk type ('indium flushed') InAs/GaAs and InAs/InP quantum dots. I show how strain and valence band offset affect quantum dot many-body properties: the excitonic fine structure, an important factor for efficient entangled photon pair generation, and the biexciton and charged exciton binding energies.

Spin textures in strongly coupled electron spin and magnetic or nuclear spin systems in quantum dots

Controlling electron spins strongly coupled to magnetic and nuclear spins in solid state systems is an important challenge in the field of spintronics and quantum computation. We show here that electron droplets with no net spin in semiconductor quantum dots strongly coupled with magnetic ion or nuclear spin systems break down at low temperature and form a nontrivial antiferromagnetic spatially ordered spin texture of magnetopolarons. The spatially ordered combined electron-magnetic ion spin texture, associated with spontaneous symmetry breaking in the parity of electronic charge and spin densities and magnetization of magnetic ions, emerges from an ab initio density functional approach to the electronic system coupled with mean-field approximation for the magnetic or nuclear spin system. The predicted phase diagram determines the critical temperature as a function of coupling strength and identifies possible phases of the strongly coupled spin system. The prediction may arrest fluctuations in the spin system and open the way to control, manipulate, and prepare magnetic and nuclear spin ensembles in semiconductor nanostructures.

Quantum interference in exciton-Mn spin interactions in a CdTe semiconductor quantum dot

We show theoretically and experimentally the existence of a new quantum-interference effect between the electron-hole interactions and the scattering by a single Mn impurity. The theoretical model, including electron-valence-hole correlations, the short- and long-range exchange interaction of a Mn ion with the heavy hole and with electron and anisotropy of the quantum dot, is compared with photoluminescence spectroscopy of CdTe dots with single magnetic ions. We show how the design of the electronic levels of a quantum dot enables the design of an exciton, control of the quantum interference, and hence engineering of light-Mn interaction.

Strong electromechanical coupling of an atomic force microscope cantilever to a quantum dot

We present theoretical and experimental results on the mechanical damping of an atomic force microscope cantilever strongly coupled to a self-assembled InAs quantum dot. When the cantilever oscillation amplitude is large, its motion dominates the charge dynamics of the dot which in turn leads to nonlinear, amplitude-dependent damping of the cantilever. We observe highly asymmetric line shapes of Coulomb blockade peaks in the damping that reflect the degeneracy of energy levels on the dot. Furthermore, we predict that excited state spectroscopy is possible by studying the damping versus oscillation amplitude, in analogy with varying the amplitude of an ac gate voltage.

Intershell exchange and sequential electrically injected spin populations of InAs quantum-dot shell states

We report sequential spin population of individual shell states of self-assembled InAs quantum dots controlled by a spin-polarized current from an Fe contact, and determine the s-p and p-d intershell exchange energies. We resolve excitonic features in the electroluminescence (EL) spectra associated with individual quantum levels. In contrast with simple models of shell occupation, the EL circular polarization exhibits maxima shifted with respect to the intensity peaks. Calculations show that this is due to intershell exchange. Exchange energies for the s-p and p-d shells are 7+/-2 and 13.5+/-1 meV, respectively.

Optical signatures of spin polarization of carriers in quantum dots

We predict theoretically the optical signatures of spin polarization of carriers in self-assembled quantum dots. The emission spectra are mapped out as a function of increasing electron spin polarization for a fixed number of electrons and holes. The spin-polarized spectra are determined using exact diagonalization techniques for up to 12 particles, corresponding to two lowest filled shells. We predict that the spin polarization leads to photon polarization, to redshifts of emission lines due to excess exchange interactions among the spin-polarized electrons, and to a complete breakup of emission lines for spin-polarized electronic shells.

Stability diagram of a few-electron triple dot

Individual and coupled quantum dots containing one or two electrons have been realized and are regarded as components for future quantum information circuits. In this Letter we map out experimentally the stability diagram of the few-electron triple dot system, the electron configuration map as a function of the external tuning parameters, and reveal experimentally for the first time the existence of quadruple points, a signature of the three dots being in resonance. In the vicinity of these quadruple points we observe a duplication of charge transfer transitions related to charge and spin reconfigurations triggered by changes in the total electron occupation number. The experimental results are largely reproduced by equivalent circuit analysis and Hubbard models. Our results are relevant for future quantum mechanical engineering applications within both quantum information and quantum cellular automata architectures.

Theory of electron mediated Mn-Mn interactions in quantum dots

We present a theory of interaction of magnetic Mn ions depending strongly on the number (Ne) of electrons in a quantum dot. For closed electronic shells, we derive the RKKY interaction and its dependence on magnetic ion positions, quantum dot energy quantization omega0, and the number of filled shells Ns. For partially filled shells, the many-electron magnetopolaron effect leads to effective carrier mediated ferromagnetic Mn-Mn interactions. The dependence of the magnetopolaron energy on magnetic ion positions, quantum dot energy quantization omega0, and the number of electrons Ne is predicted.

Magnetic exchange interactions in quantum dots containing electrons and magnetic ions

We present a theory of magnetic exchange interactions in quantum dots containing electrons and magnetic ions. We find the interaction between the electron and Mn ion to depend strongly on the number of electrons. It can be switched off for closed shell configurations and maximized for partially filled shells. However, unlike the total electron spin S which is maximized for half-filled shells, we predict the exchange interaction to be independent of the filling of the electronic shell. We show how this unusual effect manifests itself in quantum dot addition and excitation spectrum.