Impact of interface traps on charge noise and low-density transport properties in Ge/SiGe heterostructures.

Hole spins in Ge/SiGe heterostructures have emerged as an interesting qubit platform with favourable properties such as fast electrical control and noise-resilient operation at sweet spots. However, commonly observed gate-induced electrostatic disorder, drifts, and hysteresis hinder reproducible tune-up of SiGe-based quantum dot arrays. Here, we study Hall bar and quantum dot devices fabricated on Ge/SiGe heterostructures and present a consistent model for the origin of gate hysteresis and its impact on transport metrics and charge noise. As we push the accumulation voltages more negative, we observe non-monotonous changes in the low-density transport metrics, attributed to the induced gradual filling of a spatially varying density of charge traps at the SiGe-oxide interface. With each gate voltage push, we find local activation of a transient low-frequency charge noise component that completely vanishes again after 30 hours. Our results highlight the resilience of the SiGe material platform to interface-trap-induced disorder and noise and pave the way for reproducible tuning of larger multi-dot systems.

Universal nuclear focusing of confined electron spins.

For spin-based quantum computation in semiconductors, dephasing of electron spins by a fluctuating background of nuclear spins is a main obstacle. Here we show that this nuclear background can be precisely controlled in generic quantum dots by periodically exciting electron spins. We demonstrate this universal phenomenon in many-electron GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dot ensembles using optical pump-probe spectroscopy. A feedback mechanism between the electron spin polarization and the nuclear system focuses the electron spin precession frequency into discrete spin modes. Employing such control of nuclear spin polarization, the electron spin lifetime within individual dots can surpass the limit of nuclear background fluctuations, thus substantially enhancing the spin coherence time. This opens the door to achieve long electron spin coherence times also in lithographically defined many-electron systems that can be controlled in shape, size and position.

A high-bandwidth spintronic position sensor.

Position sensing with resolution down to the scale of a single atom is of key importance in nanoscale science and engineering. However, only optical-sensing methods are currently capable of non-contact sensing at such resolution over a high bandwidth. Here, we report a new non-contact, non-optical position-sensing concept based on detecting changes in a high-gradient magnetic field of a microscale magnetic dipole by means of spintronic sensors. Experimental measurements show a sensitivity of up to 40 Ω/µm, a linear range greater than 10 µm and a noise floor of 0.5 pm/√[Hz]. Also shown is the use of the sensor for position measurements for closed-loop control of a high-speed atomic force microscope with a frame rate of more than 1 frame/s.

Breakdown of the Korringa law of nuclear spin relaxation in metallic GaAs.

We present nuclear spin relaxation measurements in GaAs epilayers using a new pump-probe technique in all-electrical, lateral spin-valve devices. The measured T(1) times agree very well with NMR data available for T>1 K. However, the nuclear spin relaxation rate clearly deviates from the well-established Korringa law expected in metallic samples and follows a sublinear temperature dependence T(1)(-1) is proportional to T(0.6) for 0.1 K≤T≤10 K. Further, we investigate nuclear spin inhomogeneities.