Time, momentum, and energy resolved pump-probe tunneling spectroscopy of two-dimensional electron systems.

Real-time probing of electrons can uncover intricate relaxation mechanisms and many-body interactions in strongly correlated materials. Here, we introduce time, momentum, and energy resolved pump-probe tunneling spectroscopy (Tr-MERTS). The method allows the injection of electrons at a particular energy and observation of their subsequent decay in energy-momentum space. Using Tr-MERTS, we visualize electronic decay processes, with lifetimes from tens of nanoseconds to tens of microseconds, in Landau levels formed in a GaAs quantum well. Although most observed features agree with simple energy-relaxation, we discovered a splitting in the nonequilibrium energy spectrum in the vicinity of a ferromagnetic state. An exact diagonalization study suggests that the splitting arises from a maximally spin-polarized state with higher energy than a conventional equilibrium skyrmion. Furthermore, we observe time-dependent relaxation of the splitting, which we attribute to single-flipped spins forming skyrmions. These results establish Tr-MERTS as a powerful tool for studying the properties of a 2DES beyond equilibrium.

Consequences of Spin-Orbit Coupling at the Single Hole Level: Spin-Flip Tunneling and the Anisotropic g Factor.

Hole transport experiments were performed on a gated double quantum dot device defined in a p-GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure with a single hole occupancy in each dot. The charging diagram of the device was mapped out using charge detection confirming that the single hole limit is reached. In that limit, a detailed study of the two-hole spin system was performed using high bias magnetotransport spectroscopy. In contrast to electron systems, the hole spin was found not to be conserved during interdot resonant tunneling. This allows one to fully map out the two-hole energy spectrum as a function of the magnitude and the direction of the external magnetic field. The heavy-hole g factor was extracted and shown to be strongly anisotropic, with a value of 1.45 for a perpendicular field and close to zero for an in-plane field as required for hybridizing schemes between spin and photonic quantum platforms.

Manipulation of a Nuclear Spin by a Magnetic Domain Wall in a Quantum Hall Ferromagnet.

The manipulation of a nuclear spin by an electron spin requires the energy to flip the electron spin to be vanishingly small. This can be realized in a many electron system with degenerate ground states of opposite spin polarization in different Landau levels. We present here a microscopic theory of a domain wall between spin unpolarized and spin polarized quantum Hall ferromagnet states at filling factor two with the Zeeman energy comparable to the cyclotron energy. We determine the energies and many-body wave functions of the electronic quantum Hall droplet with up to N = 80 electrons as a function of the total spin, angular momentum, cyclotron and Zeeman energies from the spin singlet ν = 2 phase, through an intermediate polarization state exhibiting a domain wall to the fully spin-polarized phase involving the lowest and the second Landau levels. We demonstrate that the energy needed to flip one electron spin in a domain wall becomes comparable to the energy needed to flip the nuclear spin. The orthogonality of orbital electronic states is overcome by the many-electron character of the domain - the movement of the domain wall relative to the position of the nuclear spin enables the manipulation of the nuclear spin by electrical means.

Landau-Zener-Stückelberg Interferometry in Quantum Dots with Fast Rise Times: Evidence for Coherent Phonon Driving.

Manipulating qubits via electrical pulses in a piezoelectric material such as GaAs can be expected to generate incidental acoustic phonons. In this Letter we determine theoretically and experimentally the consequences of these phonons for semiconductor spin qubits using Landau-Zener-Stückelberg interferometry. Theoretical calculations predict that phonons in the presence of the spin-orbit interaction produce both phonon-Rabi fringes and accelerated evolution at the singlet-triplet anticrossing. Observed features confirm the influence of these mechanisms. Additionally, evidence is found that the pulsed gates themselves act as phonon cavities increasing the influence of phonons under specific resonant conditions.

Magnetoluminescence and valley polarized state of a two-dimensional electron gas in WS2 monolayers.

Materials often exhibit fundamentally new phenomena in reduced dimensions that potentially lead to novel applications. This is true for single-layer, two-dimensional semiconductor crystals of transition-metal dichalcogenides, MX2 (M = Mo, W and X = S, Se). They exhibit direct bandgaps with energies in the visible region at the two non-equivalent valleys in the Brillouin zone. This makes them suitable for optoelectronic applications that range from light-emitting diodes to light harvesting and light sensors, and to valleytronics. Here, we report the results of a magnetoluminescence study of WS2 single-layer crystals in which the strong spin-orbit interaction additionally locks the valley and spin degrees of freedom. The recombination of the negatively charged exciton in the presence of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) is found to be circularly polarized at zero magnetic field despite being excited with unpolarized light, which indicates that the existence of a valley polarized 2DEG is caused by valley and spin locking and strong electron-electron interactions.

Quantum interference in exciton-Mn spin interactions in a CdTe semiconductor quantum dot.

We show theoretically and experimentally the existence of a new quantum-interference effect between the electron-hole interactions and the scattering by a single Mn impurity. The theoretical model, including electron-valence-hole correlations, the short- and long-range exchange interaction of a Mn ion with the heavy hole and with electron and anisotropy of the quantum dot, is compared with photoluminescence spectroscopy of CdTe dots with single magnetic ions. We show how the design of the electronic levels of a quantum dot enables the design of an exciton, control of the quantum interference, and hence engineering of light-Mn interaction.

Antibonding ground states in InAs quantum-dot molecules.

Coherent tunneling between two InAs quantum dots forms delocalized molecular states. Using magnetophotoluminescence spectroscopy we show that when holes tunnel through a thin barrier, the lowest energy molecular state has bonding orbital character. However, as the thickness of the barrier increases, the molecular ground state changes character from a bonding orbital to an antibonding orbital, confirming recent theoretical predictions. We explain how the spin-orbit interaction causes this counterintuitive reversal by using a four-band k.p model and atomistic calculations that account for strain.

Magnetism and correlations in fractionally filled degenerate shells of graphene quantum dots.

We show that the ground state and magnetization of the macroscopically degenerate shell of electronic states in triangular gated graphene quantum dots depends on the filling fraction of the shell. The effect of degeneracy, finite size, and electron-electron interactions are treated nonperturbatively using a combination of density functional theory, tight-binding, Hartree-Fock and configuration interaction methods. We show that electronic correlations play a crucial role in determining the nature of the ground state as a function of filling fraction of the degenerate shell at the Fermi level. We find that the half-filled charge neutral shell leads to full spin polarization but this magnetic moment can be completely destroyed by adding a single electron.

Spin-selective Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in a lateral triple quantum dot.

We present a theory of spin-selective Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in a lateral triple quantum dot. We show that to understand the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect in an interacting electron system within a triple quantum dot molecule (TQD) where the dots lie in a ring configuration requires one to not only consider electron charge but also spin. Using a Hubbard model supported by microscopic calculations we show that, by localizing a single electron spin in one of the dots, the current through the TQD molecule depends not only on the flux but also on the relative orientation of the spin of the incoming and localized electrons. AB oscillations are predicted only for the spin singlet electron complex resulting in a magnetic field tunable "spin valve."

Intershell exchange and sequential electrically injected spin populations of InAs quantum-dot shell states.

We report sequential spin population of individual shell states of self-assembled InAs quantum dots controlled by a spin-polarized current from an Fe contact, and determine the s-p and p-d intershell exchange energies. We resolve excitonic features in the electroluminescence (EL) spectra associated with individual quantum levels. In contrast with simple models of shell occupation, the EL circular polarization exhibits maxima shifted with respect to the intensity peaks. Calculations show that this is due to intershell exchange. Exchange energies for the s-p and p-d shells are 7+/-2 and 13.5+/-1 meV, respectively.

Direct observation of polarons in electron populated quantum dots by resonant Raman scattering.

The general problem of the pairing of strongly interacting elementary excitations producing new quasiparticles such as polarons arises in many areas of solid state physics. Recent interest in polaron formation in semiconductor quantum dots has been motivated by the need to understand the physical nature of the carrier relaxation processes and their role in quantum-dot based devices. We report on the direct observation of polarons in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots populated by few electrons where the polarons are strongly coupled modes of quantum dot phonons and electron intersublevel transitions. The degree of coupling is varied in a systematic way in a set of samples having electron intersublevel spacing changing from larger to smaller than the longitudinal optical phonon energy. The signature of polarons is evidenced clearly by the observation of a large (12-20 meV) anticrossing for both InAs and GaAs-like quantum dot phonons using resonant Raman spectroscopy.

Stability diagram of a few-electron triple dot.

Individual and coupled quantum dots containing one or two electrons have been realized and are regarded as components for future quantum information circuits. In this Letter we map out experimentally the stability diagram of the few-electron triple dot system, the electron configuration map as a function of the external tuning parameters, and reveal experimentally for the first time the existence of quadruple points, a signature of the three dots being in resonance. In the vicinity of these quadruple points we observe a duplication of charge transfer transitions related to charge and spin reconfigurations triggered by changes in the total electron occupation number. The experimental results are largely reproduced by equivalent circuit analysis and Hubbard models. Our results are relevant for future quantum mechanical engineering applications within both quantum information and quantum cellular automata architectures.

Spin-blockade spectroscopy of a two-level artificial molecule.

Coulomb- and spin-blockade spectroscopy investigations have been performed on an electrostatically defined "artificial molecule" connected to spin polarized leads. The molecule is first effectively reduced to a two-level system by placing both constituent atoms at a specific location of the level spectrum. The spin sensitivity of the conductance enables us to identify the electronic spin states of the two-level molecule. We find in addition that the magnetic field induces variations in the tunnel coupling between the two atoms. The lateral nature of the device is evoked to explain this behavior.

Optical detection of the Aharonov-Bohm effect on a charged particle in a nanoscale quantum ring.

We study spectroscopically the current produced by a charged particle moving in a nanosize semiconductor quantum ring subject to a perpendicular magnetic field. Several Aharonov-Bohm oscillations are observed in the emission of a charged exciton confined in a single ring structure. The magnetic field period of the oscillations correlates well with the size of the rings.

Collapse of the spin-singlet phase in quantum dots.

We present experimental and theoretical results on a new regime in quantum dots in which the filling factor two-singlet state is replaced by new spin polarized phases. We make use of spin blockade spectroscopy to identify the transition to this new regime as a function of the number of electrons. The key experimental observation is a reversal of the phase in the systematic oscillation of the amplitude of Coulomb blockade peaks as the number of electrons is increased above a critical number. It is found theoretically that correlations are crucial to the existence of the new phases.

Coupling and entangling of quantum states in quantum dot molecules.

We demonstrate coupling and entangling of quantum states in a pair of vertically aligned, self-assembled quantum dots by studying the emission of an interacting electron-hole pair (exciton) in a single dot molecule as a function of the separation between the dots. An interaction-induced energy splitting of the exciton is observed that exceeds 30 millielectron volts for a dot layer separation of 4 nanometers. The results are interpreted by mapping the tunneling of a particle in a double dot to the problem of a single spin. The electron-hole complex is shown to be equivalent to entangled states of two interacting spins.