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Driven coherent oscillations of a single electron spin in a quantum dot

Nature volume 442, pages 766–771 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

The ability to control the quantum state of a single electron spin in a quantum dot is at the heart of recent developments towards a scalable spin-based quantum computer. In combination with the recently demonstrated controlled exchange gate between two neighbouring spins, driven coherent single spin rotations would permit universal quantum operations. Here, we report the experimental realization of single electron spin rotations in a double quantum dot. First, we apply a continuous-wave oscillating magnetic field, generated on-chip, and observe electron spin resonance in spin-dependent transport measurements through the two dots. Next, we coherently control the quantum state of the electron spin by applying short bursts of the oscillating magnetic field and observe about eight oscillations of the spin state (so-called Rabi oscillations) during a microsecond burst. These results demonstrate the feasibility of operating single-electron spins in a quantum dot as quantum bits.

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Figure 1: Device and ESR detection scheme.
Figure 2: ESR spin state spectroscopy.
Figure 3: The control cycle for coherent manipulation of the electron spin.
Figure 4: Coherent spin rotations.
Figure 5: Time evolution of the spin states.

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Acknowledgements

We thank W. Coish, J. Elzerman, D. Klauser, A. Lupascu, D. Loss and in particular J. Folk for discussions; R. Schouten, B. van der Enden and W. den Braver for technical assistance; The International Research Centre for Telecommunication and Radar at the Delft University of Technology for assistance with the stripline simulations. Supported by the Dutch Organization for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM), the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Quantum Information Science and Technology programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Delft University of Technology, PO Box 5046, 2600 GA, Delft, The Netherlands

    F. H. L. Koppens, C. Buizert, K. J. Tielrooij, I. T. Vink, K. C. Nowack, T. Meunier, L. P. Kouwenhoven & L. M. K. Vandersypen

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  1. F. H. L. Koppens
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Correspondence to F. H. L. Koppens or L. M. K. Vandersypen.

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Koppens, F., Buizert, C., Tielrooij, K. et al. Driven coherent oscillations of a single electron spin in a quantum dot. Nature 442, 766–771 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05065

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