No Arabic abstract
Environmental noise usually hinders the efficiency of charge transport through coherent quantum systems; an exception is dephasing-assisted transport (DAT). We show that linear triple quantum dots in a transport configuration and subjected to pure dephasing exhibit DAT if the coupling to the drain reservoir exceeds a threshold. DAT occurs for arbitrarily weak dephasing and the enhancement can be directly controlled by the coupling to the drain. Moreover, for specific settings, the enhanced current is accompanied by a reduction in relative shot noise. We identify the quantum Zeno effect and long-distance tunnelling as underlying dynamical processes involved in dephasing-assisted and -suppressed transport. Our analytical results are obtained by using the density matrix formalism and the characteristic polynomial approach to full counting statistics.
A spin qubit in semiconductor quantum dots holds promise for quantum information processing for scalability and long coherence time. An important semiconductor qubit system is a double quantum dot trapping two electrons or holes, whose spin states encode either a singlet-triplet qubit or two single-spin qubits coupled by exchange interaction. In this article, we report progress on spin dephasing of two exchange-coupled spins in a double quantum dot. We first discuss the schemes of two-qubit gates and qubit encodings in gate-defined quantum dots or donor atoms based on the exchange interaction. Then, we report the progress on spin dephasing of a singlet-triplet qubit or a two-qubit gate. The methods of suppressing spin dephasing are further discussed. The understanding of spin dephasing may provide insights into the realization of high-fidelity quantum gates for spin-based quantum computing.
We theoretically investigate transport signatures of quantum interference in highly symmetric double quantum dots in a parallel geometry and demonstrate that extremely weak symmetry-breaking effects can have a dramatic influence on the current. Our calculations are based on a master equation where quantum interference enters as non-diagonal elements of the density matrix of the double quantum dots. We also show that many results have a physically intuitive meaning when recasting our equations as Bloch-like equations for a pseudo spin associated with the dot occupation. In the perfectly symmetric configuration with equal tunnel couplings and orbital energies of both dots, there is no unique stationary state density matrix. Interestingly, however, adding arbitrarily small symmetry-breaking terms to the tunnel couplings or orbital energies stabilizes a stationary state either with or without quantum interference, depending on the competition between these two perturbations. The different solutions can correspond to very different current levels. Therefore, if the orbital energies and/or tunnel couplings are controlled by, e.g., electrostatic gating, the double quantum dot can act as an exceptionally sensitive electric switch.
A system of three coupled quantum dots in a triangular geometry (TQD) with electron-electron interaction and symmetrically coupled to two leads is analyzed with respect to the electron transport by means of the numerical renormalization group. Varying gate potentials this system exhibits extremely rich range of regimes with different many-electron states with various local spin orderings. It is demonstrated how the Luttinger phase changes in a controlled manner which then via the Friedel sum rule formula exactly reproduces the conductance through the TQD system. The analysis of the uncoupled TQD molecule from the leads gives a reliable qualitative understanding of various relevant regimes and gives an insight into the phase diagram with the regular Fermi liquid and singular-Fermi liquid phases.
Numerical analysis of the simplest odd-numbered system of coupled quantum dots reveals an interplay between magnetic ordering, charge fluctuations and the tendency of itinerant electrons in the leads to screen magnetic moments. The transition from local-moment to molecular-orbital behavior is visible in the evolution of correlation functions as the inter-dot coupling is increased. Resulting novel Kondo phases are presented in a phase diagram which can be sampled by measuring the zero-bias conductance. We discuss the origin of the even-odd effects by comparing with the double quantum dot.
We study theoretically the phonon-induced relaxation and decoherence of spin states of two electrons in a lateral double quantum dot in a SiGe/Si/SiGe heterostructure. We consider two types of singlet-triplet spin qubits and calculate their relaxation and decoherence times, in particular as a function of level hybridization, temperature, magnetic field, spin orbit interaction, and detuning between the quantum dots, using Bloch-Redfield theory. We show that the magnetic field gradient, which is usually applied to operate the spin qubit, may reduce the relaxation time by more than an order of magnitude. Using this insight, we identify an optimal regime where the magnetic field gradient does not affect the relaxation time significantly, and we propose regimes of longest decay times. We take into account the effects of one-phonon and two-phonon processes and suggest how our theory can be tested experimentally. The spin lifetimes we find here for Si-based quantum dots are significantly longer than the ones reported for their GaAs counterparts.