On-demand single-electron transfer between distant quantum dots

McNeil, Robert; Kataoka, M.; Ford, Chris; Barnes, C. H. W.; Anderson, David V.; Jones, G. A. C.; Farrer, I.; Ritchie, D. A.

doi:10.1038/nature10444

Cited by 285 publications

(273 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The lack of quantum coherence between electron tunneling events makes the injection of trains of few undistinguishable electrons impossible. More recently itinerant quantum dots obtained using surface acoustic waves [25] have been shown able to transport single to two electrons along a depleted electron channel [4,5]. These systems may also have application in metrology.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Realizations of time controlled single charge sources have been reported in [1][2][3][4][5] and considered theoretically in [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] with a particular focus on the energy resolved single electron source based on a quantum dot [1]. Injecting more than one electron requires a different practical approach which is the subject of this paper.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…These systems may also have application in metrology. Because of the long coherence time of the spin, they could be used for spin based qubit operation and to carry quantum information between distant dots [4,5]. Finally, the on-demand injection of a single electron emitted from a single energy level suddenly risen at a definite energy above the Fermi sea of the leads has been realized using a quantum mesoscopic capacitor [26] in a non-linear regime [1].…”

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Integer and fractional charge Lorentzian voltage pulses analyzed in the framework of photon-assisted shot noise

et al. 2013

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The periodic injection n of electrons in a quantum conductor using periodic voltage pulses applied on a contact is studied in the energy and time-domain using shot noise computation in order to make comparison with experiments. We particularly consider the case of periodic Lorentzian voltage pulses. When carrying integer charge, they are known to provide electronic states with a minimal number of excitations, while other type of pulses are all accompanied by an extra neutral cloud of electron and hole excitations. This paper focuses on the low frequency shot noise which arises when the pulse excitations are partitioned by a single scatterer in the framework of the Photo Assisted Shot Noise (PASN) theory. As a unique tool to count the number of excitations carried per pulse, shot noise reveals that pulses of arbitrary shape and arbitrary charge show a marked minimum when the charge is integer. Shot noise spectroscopy is also considered to perform energy-domain characterization of the charge pulses. In particular it reveals the striking asymmetrical spectrum of Lorentzian pulses. Finally, time-domain information is obtained from Hong Ou Mandel like noise correlations when two trains of pulses generated on opposite contacts collide on the scatterer. As a function of the time delay between pulse trains, the noise is shown to measure the electron wavepacket autocorrelation function for integer Lorentzian thanks to electron antibunching. In order to make contact with recent experiments all the calculations are made at zero and finite temperature. This paper addresses the noiseless injection of a small finite number of electrons in a quantum conductor. Indeed, quantum effects become more and more accessible when only few degrees of freedom are controlled. During the last thirty years, research in this direction has lead to the possibility to manipulate quantum states with several degrees of freedom and to entangle particles making possible simple quantum information processing. Up to now most advances have been obtained in quantum optics with the manipulation of single photons emitted by atoms or semiconductor quantum dots, and in atomic physics with optical arrays of trapped cold atoms or ions More recently the manipulation of quantum states has become available in condensed matter systems using superconducting circuits and semiconductor quantum dots.A recent approach is the manipulation of single charges injected in a quantum ballistic conductors. Realizations of time controlled single charge sources have been reported in [1][2][3][4][5] and considered theoretically in [6-13] with a particular focus on the energy resolved single electron source based on a quantum dot [1]. Injecting more than one electron requires a different practical approach which is the subject of this paper. We will consider the more general case of coherent trains of few undistinguishable electrons [14,15] which opens the way to entangle several quasi-particles but also to probe the full counting statistics [16] with a finite number of electrons...

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Integer and fractional charge Lorentzian voltage pulses analyzed in the framework of photon-assisted shot noise

et al. 2013

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“…In addition, in presence of spin-orbit interaction, it represents an interesting way to manipulate coherently the spin of a single electron [2][3][4]. Recently, fast and efficient single electron transport could be obtained by assisting the transport through a 1D-channel electrostatically defined with surface acoustic waves on AlGaAs heterostructures [5,6]. Nevertheless, such a technique is restricted to displacements on a straight line.…”

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confidence: 99%

A few-electron quadruple quantum dot in a closed loop

Thalineau

Hermelin

Wieck

et al. 2012

Applied Physics Letters

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We report the realization of a quadruple quantum dot device in a square-like configuration where a single electron can be transferred on a closed path free of other electrons. By studying the stability diagrams of this system, we demonstrate that we are able to reach the few-electron regime and to control the electronic population of each quantum dot with gate voltages. This allows us to control the transfer of a single electron on a closed path inside the quadruple dot system. This work opens the route towards electron spin manipulation using spin-orbit interaction by moving an electron on complex paths free of electrons. PACS numbers:Controlling the path of a single electron in semiconducting nanostructures is an interesting tool in the context of spin qubits systems. In particular, it opens the route towards the transport of quantum information on a chip and represents a potential strategy to scale up the number of spin qubits in interaction [1]. In addition, in presence of spin-orbit interaction, it represents an interesting way to manipulate coherently the spin of a single electron [2][3][4]. Recently, fast and efficient single electron transport could be obtained by assisting the transport through a 1D-channel electrostatically defined with surface acoustic waves on AlGaAs heterostructures [5,6]. Nevertheless, such a technique is restricted to displacements on a straight line. To perform more complex displacements, engineering the path of the electron with series of quantum dots is a promising alternative. In this context, it has been demonstrated that topological spin manipulation can be obtained if the electron is transported adiabatically on a closed path under spin-orbit interaction [7,8].In order to preserve spin information during transport, all other electrons of the heterostructure potentially present along the electron path have to be removed. Therefore all dots have to be emptied and one needs to control them in the so called "few-electron regime". Up to now, only three dots in series have been demonstrated to be tunable [9,10] in the few-electron regime. A triple quantum dot geometry in a star-like configuration has been demonstrated, but the geometry did not allow tunneling between all close-by dots and the few-electron regime was not reached [11].Here we present the first step towards the transfer of a single electron spin on a closed path using a series of quantum dots in a square-like geometry. We demonstrate that we are able to set the system in the few-electron regime using charge detection techniques and therefore to remove the other electrons along the path. Moreover, the tunability of the four-dot system allows a single electron to be transported along a closed path isolated from the other electrons of the structure. The quantum dot system is fabricated using a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure grown by molecular beam epitaxy, with a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) 100nm below the surface (density 2 × 10 11 cm −2 and mobility 1 × 10 6 V −1 s −1 ). By applying negative voltages to the meta...

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“…The measurement is carried out non-invasively by using the effect of the change in the local electric potential caused by the non-equilibrium charge contained in the dynamic quantum dot. This technique is expected to be widely used as increasingly complex SAW devices are developed, 22,23 as non-invasive charge detection will be necessary both to test each component of a multiplestage SAW circuit and to probe fundamental quantum effects in SAW devices (for example, as a "which path" detector 24 in a SAW quantum interferometer 5 ).…”

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Non-invasive charge detection in surface-acoustic-wave-defined dynamic quantum dots

Astley

Kataoka

Ford

et al. 2016

Applied Physics Letters

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Using a non-invasive charge detection method, we detect a flow of electrons trapped in dynamic quantum dots. The dynamic quantum dots are defined by surface acoustic waves (SAWs) and move through a long depleted one-dimensional channel. A one-dimensional constriction is placed next to the SAW channel but in a separate circuit; the current induced by the SAWs through this detector constriction is sensitive to the number of electrons trapped in the SAW minima. We observe steps in the detector acoustoelectric current as the number of electrons carried by SAWs are varied as 1,2,3….

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On-demand single-electron transfer between distant quantum dots

Cited by 285 publications

References 19 publications

Integer and fractional charge Lorentzian voltage pulses analyzed in the framework of photon-assisted shot noise

Integer and fractional charge Lorentzian voltage pulses analyzed in the framework of photon-assisted shot noise

A few-electron quadruple quantum dot in a closed loop

Non-invasive charge detection in surface-acoustic-wave-defined dynamic quantum dots

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