arXiv subjects

A. C. Gossard

Publications and source records attributed to A. C. Gossard.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Kinetics of Exciton Emission Patterns and Carrier Transport

We report on the measurements of the kinetics of expanding and collapsing rings in the exciton emission pattern. The rings are found to preserve their integrity during expansion and collapse, indicating that the observed kinetics is controlled by charge carrier transport rather than by a much faster process of exciton production and decay. The relation between ring kinetics and carrier transport, revealed by our experiment and confirmed by comparison with a theoretical model, is used to determine electron and hole transport characteristics in a contactless fashion.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Gate-controlled spin-orbit interaction in a parabolic GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well

We study the tunability of the spin-orbit interaction in a two-dimensional electron gas with a front and a back gate electrode by monitoring the spin precession frequency of drifting electrons using time-resolved Kerr rotation. The Rashba spin splitting can be tuned by the gate biases, while we find a small Dresselhaus splitting that depends only weakly on the gating. We determine the absolute values and signs of the two components and show that for zero Rashba spin splitting the anisotropy of the spin-dephasing rate vanishes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Collection of indirect excitons in a diamond-shaped electrostatic trap

We report on the principle and realization of a new trap for excitons -- the diamond electrostatic trap -- which uses a single electrode to create a confining potential for excitons. We also create elevated diamond traps which permit evaporative cooling of the exciton gas. We observe collection of excitons towards the trap center with increasing exciton density. This effect is due to screening of disorder in the trap by the excitons. As a result, the diamond trap behaves as a smooth parabolic potential which realizes a cold and dense exciton gas at the trap center.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Electron counting in quantum dots

We use time-resolved charge detection techniques to investigate single-electron tunneling in semiconductor quantum dots. The ability to detect individual charges in real-time makes it possible to count electrons one-by-one as they pass through the structure. The setup can thus be used as a high-precision current meter for measuring ultra-low currents, with resolution several orders of magnitude better than that of conventional current meters. In addition to measuring the average current, the counting procedure also makes it possible to investigate correlations between charge carriers. In quantum dots, we find that the strong Coulomb interaction makes electrons try to avoid each other. This leads to electron anti-bunching, giving stronger correlations and reduced noise compared to a current carried by statistically independent electrons. The charge detector is implemented by monitoring changes in conductance in a near-by capacitively coupled quantum point contact. We find that the quantum point contact not only serves as a detector but also causes a back-action onto the measured device. Electron scattering in the quantum point contact leads to emission of microwave radiation. The radiation is found to induce an electronic transition between two quantum dots, similar to the absorption of light in real atoms and molecules. Using a charge detector to probe the electron transitions, we can relate a single-electron tunneling event to the absorption of a single photon. Moreover, since the energy levels of the double quantum dot can be tuned by external gate voltages, we use the device as a frequency-selective single-photon detector operating at microwave energies.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Universality of Bias- and Temperature-induced Dephasing in Ballistic Electronic Interferometers

We performed a transport measurement in a ballistic Aharonov-Bohm ring and a Fabry-Perot type interferometer. In both cases we found that the interference signal is reversed at a certain bias voltage and that the visibility decays exponentially as a function of temperature, being in a strong analogy with recent reports on the electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometers. By analyzing the data including those in the previous works, the energy scales that characterize the dephasing are found to be dominantly dependent on the interferometer size, implying the presence of a universal behavior in ballistic interferometers in both linear and non-linear transport regimes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Statistical electron excitation in a double quantum dot induced by two independent quantum point contacts

We investigate experimentally the influence of current flow through two independent quantum point contacts to a nearby double quantum dot realized in a GaAs-AlGaAs heterostructure. The observed current through the double quantum dot can be explained in terms of coupling to a bosonic bath. The temperature of the bath depends on the power generated by the current flow through the quantum point contact. We identify the dominant absorption and emission mechanisms in a double quantum dot as an interaction with acoustic phonons. The experiment excludes coupling of a double quantum dot to shot noise generated by quantum point contact as the dominant mechanism.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Localization-Delocalization Transition of Indirect Excitons in Lateral Electrostatic Lattices

We study transport of indirect excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs coupled quantum wells in linear lattices created by laterally modulated gate voltage. The localization-delocalization transition (LDT) for transport across the lattice was observed with reducing lattice amplitude or increasing exciton density. The exciton interaction energy at the transition is close to the lattice amplitude. These results are consistent with the model, which attributes the LDT to the interaction-induced percolation of the exciton gas through the external potential. We also discuss applications of the lattice potentials for estimating the strength of disorder and exciton interaction.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

A new mechanism of electric dipole spin resonance: hyperfine coupling in quantum dots

A recently discovered mechanism of electric dipole spin resonance, mediated by the hyperfine interaction, is investigated experimentally and theoretically. The effect is studied using a spin-selective transition in a GaAs double quantum dot. The resonant frequency is sensitive to the instantaneous hyperfine effective field, revealing a nuclear polarization created by driving the resonance. A device incorporating a micromagnet exhibits a magnetic field difference between dots, allowing electrons in either dot to be addressed selectively. An unexplained additional signal at half the resonant frequency is presented.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Spin transport of indirect excitons in GaAs coupled quantum wells

Spin transport of indirect excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs coupled quantum wells was observed by measuring the spatially resolved circular polarization of the exciton emission. The exciton spin transport originates from the long spin relaxation time and long lifetime of the indirect excitons.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Measurement of Temporal Correlations of the Overhauser Field in a Double Quantum Dot

In quantum dots made from materials with nonzero nuclear spins, hyperfine coupling creates a fluctuating effective Zeeman field (Overhauser field) felt by electrons, which can be a dominant source of spin qubit decoherence. We characterize the spectral properties of the fluctuating Overhauser field in a GaAs double quantum dot by measuring correlation functions and power spectra of the rate of singlet-triplet mixing of two separated electrons. Away from zero field, spectral weight is concentrated below 10 Hz, with 1/f^2 dependence on frequency, f. This is consistent with a model of nuclear spin diffusion, and indicates that decoherence can be largely suppressed by echo techniques.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Detecting single-electron tunneling involving virtual processes in real time

We use time-resolved charge detection techniques to probe virtual tunneling processes in a double quantum dot. The process involves an energetically forbidden state separated by an energy $δ$ from the Fermi energy in the leads. The non-zero tunneling probability can be interpreted as cotunneling, which occurs as a direct consequence of time-energy uncertainty. For small energy separation the electrons in the quantum dots delocalize and form molecular states. In this regime we establish the experimental equivalence between cotunneling and sequential tunneling into molecular states for electron transport in a double quantum dot. Finally, we investigate inelastic cotunneling processes involving excited states of the quantum dots. Using the time-resolved charge detection techniques, we are able to extract the shot noise of the current in the cotunneling regime.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Photon storage with sub-nanosecond readout rise time in coupled quantum wells

Photon storage with 250 ps rise time of the readout optical signal was implemented with indirect excitons in coupled quantum well nanostructures (CQW). The storage and release of photons was controlled by the gate voltage pulse. The transient processes in the CQW were studied by measuring the kinetics of the exciton emission spectra after application of the gate voltage pulse. Strong oscillations of the exciton emission wavelength were observed in the transient regime when the gate voltage pulse was carried over an ordinary wire. Gating the CQW via an impedance-matched broadband transmission line has lead to an effective elimination of these transient oscillations and expedient switching of the exciton energy to a required value within a short time, much shorter than the exciton lifetime.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Time-resolved detection of single-electron interference

We demonstrate real-time detection of self-interfering electrons in a double quantum dot embedded in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer, with visibility approaching unity. We use a quantum point contact as a charge detector to perform time-resolved measurements of single-electron tunneling. With increased bias voltage, the quantum point contact exerts a back-action on the interferometer leading to decoherence. We attribute this to emission of radiation from the quantum point contact, which drives non-coherent electronic transitions in the quantum dots.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Suppressing Spin Qubit Dephasing by Nuclear State Preparation

Coherent spin states in semiconductor quantum dots offer promise as electrically controllable quantum bits (qubits) with scalable fabrication. For few-electron quantum dots made from gallium arsenide (GaAs), fluctuating nuclear spins in the host lattice are the dominant source of spin decoherence. We report a method of preparing the nuclear spin environment that suppresses the relevant component of nuclear spin fluctuations below its equilibrium value by a factor of ~ 70, extending the inhomogeneous dephasing time for the two-electron spin state beyond 1 microsecond. The nuclear state can be readily prepared by electrical gate manipulation and persists for > 10 seconds.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Effect of spatial resolution on the estimates of the coherence length of excitons in quantum wells

We evaluate the effect of diffraction-limited resolution of the optical system on the estimates of the coherence length of 2D excitons deduced from the interferometric study of the exciton emission. The results are applied for refining our earlier estimates of the coherence length of a cold gas of indirect excitons in coupled quantum wells [S. Yang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 187402(2006)]. We show that the apparent coherence length is well approximated by the quadratic sum of the actual exciton coherence length and the diffraction correction given by the conventional Abbe limit divided by 3.14. In practice, accounting for diffraction is necessary only when the coherence length is smaller than about one wavelength. The earlier conclusions regarding the strong enhancement of the exciton coherence length at low temperatures remain intact.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Time-resolved Dynamics of the Spin Hall Effect

The generation and manipulation of carrier spin polarization in semiconductors solely by electric fields has garnered significant attention as both an interesting manifestation of spin-orbit physics as well as a valuable capability for potential spintronics devices. One realization of these spin-orbit phenomena, the spin Hall effect (SHE), has been studied as a means of all-electrical spin current generation and spin separation in both semiconductor and metallic systems. Previous measurements of the spin Hall effect have focused on steady-state generation and time-averaged detection, without directly addressing the accumulation dynamics on the timescale of the spin coherence time. Here, we demonstrate time-resolved measurement of the dynamics of spin accumulation generated by the extrinsic spin Hall effect in a doped GaAs semiconductor channel. Using electrically-pumped time-resolved Kerr rotation, we image the accumulation, precession, and decay dynamics near the channel boundary with spatial and temporal resolution and identify multiple evolution time constants. We model these processes using time-dependent diffusion analysis utilizing both exact and numerical solution techniques and find that the underlying physical spin coherence time differs from the dynamical rates of spin accumulation and decay observed near the sample edges.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Stoichiometric growth of high Curie temperature heavily-alloyed GaMnAs

Heavily-alloyed, 100 nm Ga1-xMnxAs (x>0.1) films are obtained via low temperature molecular beam epitaxy utilizing a combinatorial technique which allows systematic control of excess arsenic during growth. Reproducible, optimized electronic, magnetic and structural properties are found in a narrow range of stoichiometric growth conditions. The Curie temperature of stoichiometric material is 150-165 K and independent of x within a large window of growth conditions while substitutional Mn content increases linearly, contradicting the prediction of the Zener Model of hole-mediated ferromagnetism.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2008

Exchange Control of Nuclear Spin Diffusion in a Double Quantum Dot

Coherent two-level systems, or qubits, based on electron spins in GaAs quantum dots are strongly coupled to the nuclear spins of the host lattice via the hyperfine interaction. Realizing nuclear spin control would likely improve electron spin coherence and potentially enable the nuclear environment to be harnessed for the long-term storage of quantum information. Toward this goal, we report experimental control of the relaxation of nuclear spin polarization in a gate-defined two-electron GaAs double quantum dot. A cyclic gate-pulse sequence transfers the spin of an electron pair to the host nuclear system, establishing a local nuclear polarization that relaxes on a time scale of seconds. We find nuclear relaxation depends on magnetic field and gate-controlled two-electron exchange, consistent with a model of electron mediated nuclear spin diffusion.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗