No Arabic abstract
Controlling decoherence is the most challenging task in realizing quantum information hardware. Single electron spins in gallium arsenide are a leading candidate among solid- state implementations, however strong coupling to nuclear spins in the substrate hinders this approach. To realize spin qubits in a nuclear-spin-free system, intensive studies based on group-IV semiconductor are being pursued. In this case, the challenge is primarily control of materials and interfaces, and device nanofabrication. We report important steps toward implementing spin qubits in a predominantly nuclear-spin-free system by demonstrating state preparation, pulsed gate control, and charge-sensing spin readout of confined hole spins in a one-dimensional Ge/Si nanowire. With fast gating, we measure T1 spin relaxation times in coupled quantum dots approaching 1 ms, increasing with lower magnetic field, consistent with a spin-orbit mechanism that is usually masked by hyperfine contributions.
We analyze the performance of a recently reported Ge/Si core/shell nanowire transistor using a semiclassical, ballistic transport model and an sp3s*d5 tight-binding treatment of the electronic structure. Comparison of the measured performance of the device with the effects of series resistance removed to the simulated result assuming ballistic transport shows that the experimental device operates between 60 to 85% of the ballistic limit. For this ~15 nm diameter Ge nanowire, we also find that 14-18 modes are occupied at room temperature under ON-current conditions with ION/IOFF=100. To observe true one dimensional transport in a <110> Ge nanowire transistor, the nanowire diameter would have to be much less than about 5 nm. The methodology described here should prove useful for analyzing and comparing on common basis nanowire transistors of various materials and structures.
We propose a setup for universal and electrically controlled quantum information processing with hole spins in Ge/Si core/shell nanowire quantum dots (NW QDs). Single-qubit gates can be driven through electric-dipole-induced spin resonance, with spin-flip times shorter than 100 ps. Long-distance qubit-qubit coupling can be mediated by the cavity electric field of a superconducting transmission line resonator, where we show that operation times below 20 ns seem feasible for the entangling square-root-of-iSWAP gate. The absence of Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction (SOI) and the presence of an unusually strong Rashba-type SOI enable precise control over the transverse qubit coupling via an externally applied, perpendicular electric field. The latter serves as an on-off switch for quantum gates and also provides control over the g factor, so single- and two-qubit gates can be operated independently. Remarkably, we find that idle qubits are insensitive to charge noise and phonons, and we discuss strategies for enhancing noise-limited gate fidelities.
We present angle-dependent measurements of the effective g-factor g* in a Ge-Si core-shell nanowire quantum dot. g* is found to be maximum when the magnetic field is pointing perpendicular to both the nanowire and the electric field induced by local gates. Alignment of the magnetic field with the electric field reduces g* significantly. g* is almost completely quenched when the magnetic field is aligned with the nanowire axis. These findings confirm recent calculations, where the obtained anisotropy is attributed to a Rashba-type spin-orbit interaction induced by heavy-hole light-hole mixing. In principle, this facilitates manipulation of spin-orbit qubits by means of a continuous high-frequency electric field.
General expressions for the electron- and hole-acoustical-phonon deformation potential Hamiltonian (H_{E-DP}) are derived for the case of Ge/Si and Si/Ge core/shell nanowire structures (NWs) with circular cross section. Based on the short-range elastic continuum approach and on derived analytical results, the spatial confined effects on the vector phonon displacement, the phonon dispersion relation and the electron- and hole-phonon scattering amplitudes are analyzed. It is shown that the acoustical vector displacement, phonon frequencies and H_{E-DP} present mixed torsional, axial, and radial components depending on the angular momentum quantum number and phonon wavector under consideration. The treatment shows that bulk group velocities of the constituent materials are renormalized due to the spatial confinement and intrinsic strain at the interface. The role of insulating shell on the phonon dispersion and electron-phonon coupling in Ge/Si and Si/Ge NWs are discussed.
We settle a general expression for the Hamiltonian of the electron-phonon deformation potential (DP) interaction in the case of non-polar core-shell cylindrical nanowires (NWs). On the basis of long range phenomenological continuum model for the optical modes and by taking into account the bulk phonon dispersions, we study the size dependence and strain-induced shift of the electron-phonon coupling strengths for Ge-Si and Si-Ge NWs. We derive analytically the DP electron-phonon Hamiltonian and report some numerical results for the frequency core modes and vibrational amplitudes. Our approach allows for the unambiguous identification of the strain and confinement effects. We explore the dependence of mode frequencies and hole-DP scattering rates on the structural parameters of these core-shell structures, which constitute a basic tool for the characterization and device applications of these novel nanosystems.