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Coherent control of a single exciton qubit by optoelectronic manipulation

Nature Photonics volume 4, pages 545–548 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

The coherent state manipulation of single quantum systems is a fundamental requirement for the implementation of quantum information processors. Exciton qubits are of particular interest for coherent optoelectronic applications, in particular due to their excellent coupling to photons. Until now, coherent manipulations of exciton qubits in semiconductor quantum dots have been performed predominantly by pulsed laser fields. Coherent control of the population of excitonic states with a single laser pulse, observed by Rabi oscillations, has been demonstrated by several groups using different techniques1,2,3. By using two laser pulses, more general state control can be achieved4, and coupling of two excitons has been reported5,6. Here, we present a conceptually new approach for implementing the coherent control of an exciton two-level system (qubit) by means of a time-dependent electric interaction. The new scheme makes use of an optical clock signal and a synchronous electric gate signal, which controls the coherent manipulation.

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Figure 1: Photodiode design and Bloch sphere.
Figure 2: Ramsey fringes.
Figure 3: Experimental set-up.
Figure 4: Schematic representation of the electric phase manipulation.
Figure 5: Quantum phase shift.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through grant no. 01BM466 and from the German Research Foundation (DFG) research training group (no. GRK 1464).

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Author notes

  1. S. Michaelis de Vasconcellos is a Present address: Laboratoire de Photonique et de Nanostructures, LPN/CNRS, Route de Nozay, 91460 Marcoussis, France

  2. steffen.michaelis@lpn.cnrs.fr

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Physik and Center for Optoelectronics and Photonics Paderborn (CeOPP), Universität Paderborn, Warburger Str. 100, Paderborn, 33098, Germany

    S. Michaelis de Vasconcellos, S. Gordon, T. Meier & A. Zrenner

  2. Walter Schottky Institut, Technische Universität München, Am Coulombwall, Garching, 85748, Germany

    M. Bichler

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Contributions

S.M.d.V. and A.Z. conceived and designed the concept and experiment. M.B. fabricated the sample. S.M.d.V. and S.G. performed the experiments. S.M.d.V., S.G. and T.M. developed the theoretical model. S.M.d.V., T.M. and A.Z. analysed the data and wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to S. Michaelis de Vasconcellos.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Michaelis de Vasconcellos, S., Gordon, S., Bichler, M. et al. Coherent control of a single exciton qubit by optoelectronic manipulation. Nature Photon 4, 545–548 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2010.124

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