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Single-shot read-out of an individual electron spin in a quantum dot

This paper describes a groundbreaking method for electrically reading out a single spin in a quantum dot, showcasing the potential for quantum information carriers. The study presents the experimental setup, measurements, and results indicating high measurement visibility and long spin energy relaxation times.

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Single-shot read-out of an individual electron spin in a quantum dot

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  1. Single-shot read-out of an individual electron spin in a quantum dot J. M. Elzerman, R. Hanson, L. H. Willems van Beveren, B. Witkamp, L. M. K. Vandersypen, L. P. Kouwenhoven Delft University of Technology Nature 430, 431 (2004) Talk held by Kevin Inderbitzin and Lars Steffen

  2. Outline • Idea behind the paper • Quantum dot & spin-to-charge conversion • Experimental setup • Measurements & Results • Conclusion

  3. Idea behind the paper • Individual spins are carriers of quantum information • Read-out of a single spin state with optical techniques is already possible The paper presents a method of electrical read-out of a single spin

  4. Quantum dot • confines the motion of conduction band electrons • has a discrete quantized energy spectrum • contains a small integer number of conduction band electrons

  5. Experimental setup • GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure • 2DEG below the surface • Dilution refrigera-tor (T ≈ 300 mK) • Magnetic field (B = 10 T)

  6. Experimental setup • Topgates deplete the 2DEG • Plungergate to control energy-levels in the QD • Current through QPC can be measured

  7. Experimental setup • Gate voltages such that the QD contains either zero or one electron • Current through QPC is influenced by the charge on the dot and the plungergate voltage • Voltages on gates T, M, R and Q are constant through the experiment

  8. Spin-to-charge conversion

  9. What can happen?

  10. Expected measurements only for spin-down

  11. Expected measurements The two specific possible cases again.

  12. Results – Part 1 Top: Compare to the expected measurements in the last slide. Bottom: Different measured „spin-down“ signals (only the read-out stage). They show the stochastic nature of the tunneling events. Red lines = read-out threshold.

  13. Results – Part 2 • Probability of relaxation to spin-up-state increases with • Probable reasons of spin-relaxation at high magnetic fields: • Dominated by spin-orbit interaction • Smaller contributions from hyperfine interactions with the surrounding nuclear spins.

  14. Top: Spin-down probability for different magnetic fields. Bottom: Need to introduce constant term into fitting function. Results – Part 3 Fit curve to:

  15. Results – Part 4 • is the „dark count“ probability = prob. that even though the electron has spin-up the current exeeds the spin-down threshold in the read-out stage. • Reasons (in measuring QPC): • Thermally activated tunneling • Electrical noise

  16. Results – Part 5 Visibility is maximized at the red line. Measured: • Vary read-out threshold to maximize visibility= 65%

  17. Encouraging results for the use of electron spins as qubits! Summary and Conclusion • Electrical single-shot spin read-out has been demonstrated (2004). • With a measurement visibility of 65% • Very long single-spin energy relaxation times: 0.85 ms for 8 Tesla field

  18. Outlook • Necessary future steps for improving the spin measurement visibility: • Lower electron temperature • Achieve faster charge measurement • More experiments necessary to confirm theoretical predictions for the reasons of electron spin relaxation at high magnetic fields (mainly spin-orbit).

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