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Coherent manipulation of semiconductor quantum bits with terahertz radiation

Nature volume 410, pages 60–63 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Quantum bits1,2,3,4,5 (qubits) are the fundamental building blocks of quantum information processors, such as quantum computers6. A qubit comprises a pair of well characterized quantum states that can in principle be manipulated quickly compared to the time it takes them to decohere by coupling to their environment7. Much remains to be understood about the manipulation and decoherence of semiconductor qubits. Here we show that hydrogen-atom-like motional states of electrons bound to donor impurities in currently available semiconductors can serve as model qubits. We use intense pulses8 of terahertz radiation to induce coherent, damped Rabi oscillations9,10 in the population of two low-lying states of donor impurities in GaAs11,12,13. Our observations demonstrate that a quantum-confined extrinsic electron in a semiconductor can be coherently manipulated like an atomic electron, even while sharing space with ∼105 atoms in its semiconductor host. We anticipate that this model system will be useful for measuring intrinsic decoherence processes, and for testing both simple and complex manipulations of semiconductor qubits.

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Figure 1: Schematic drawing of terahertz (THz) photoconducting processes and sample.
Figure 2: Terahertz pulse shape and photoconductive response.
Figure 3: Rabi oscillations in photocurrent.
Figure 4: Photocurrent as a function of pulse duration for various detunings at a fixed terahertz field.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. K. Enyeart and C. Sean Roy for assistance with experiments, and C. J. Weinberger, D. D. Awschalom, and A. Imamoglu for critical readings of the manuscript. This work was supported by the ARO, the ONR/Medical Free-Electron Laser Program, the NSF, and Sun Microsystems.

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Author notes

  1. B. E. Cole

    Present address: Toshiba Research Europe Limited, Cambridge Research Laboratory, 260 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WE, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science and Technology (iQUEST) and Department of Physics, Institute for Quantum Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, California, USA

    B. E. Cole, J. B. Williams, B. T. King & M. S. Sherwin

  2. Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

    C. R. Stanley

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Correspondence to M. S. Sherwin.

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Cole, B., Williams, J., King, B. et al. Coherent manipulation of semiconductor quantum bits with terahertz radiation. Nature 410, 60–63 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35065032

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