Magnetic frustration and fractionalization in oligo(indenoindenes)

Poly(indenoindenes) are {\pi}-conjugated ladder carbon polymers with alternating hexagons and pentagons hosting one unpaired electron for each five-membered ring in the open-shell limit. Here we study the main magnetic interactions that are present in finite oligo(indenoindenes) (OInIn), classifying the six possible isomers in two different classes of three isomers each. One class can be rationalized by frustrated S = 1/2 Heisenberg chains, with ferromagnetic interactions between neighbour sites and antiferromagnetic interactions between the next neighbours. The other class is characterized by the more trivial antiferromagnetic order. Employing several levels of theory we further show that the ground state of one of the isomers is a valence-bond solid (VBS) of ferromagnetic dimers (S = 1). This is topologically similar to that of the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki (AKLT) model, which is known to show fractional S = 1/2 states at the edges

Interfacing nuclear spins in quantum dots to cavity or traveling-wave fields

We show how to realize a quantum interface between optical fields and the polarized nuclear spins in a singly charged quantum dot, which is strongly coupled to a high-finesse optical cavity. An effective direct coupling between cavity and nuclear spins is obtained by adiabatically eliminating the (far detuned) excitonic and electronic states. The requirements needed to map qubit and continuous variable states of cavity or traveling-wave fields to the collective nuclear spin are investigated: For cavity fields, we consider adiabatic passage processes to transfer the states. It is seen that a significant improvement in cavity lifetimes beyond present-day technology would be required for a quantum interface. We then turn to a scheme which couples the nuclei to the output field of the cavity and can tolerate significantly shorter cavity lifetimes. We show that the lifetimes reported in the literature and the recently achieved nuclear polarization of ~90% allow both high-fidelity read-out and write-in of quantum information between the nuclear spins and the output field. We discuss the performance of the scheme and provide a convenient description of the dipolar dynamics of the nuclei for highly polarized spins, demonstrating that this process does not affect the performance of our protocol.Comment: 37 pages, 14 figure

Superradiance-like Electron Transport through a Quantum Dot

We theoretically show that intriguing features of coherent many-body physics can be observed in electron transport through a quantum dot (QD). We first derive a master equation based framework for electron transport in the Coulomb-blockade regime which includes hyperfine (HF) interaction with the nuclear spin ensemble in the QD. This general tool is then used to study the leakage current through a single QD in a transport setting. We find that, for an initially polarized nuclear system, the proposed setup leads to a strong current peak, in close analogy with superradiant emission of photons from atomic ensembles. This effect could be observed with realistic experimental parameters and would provide clear evidence of coherent HF dynamics of nuclear spin ensembles in QDs.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figure

Multistability and spin diffusion enhanced lifetimes in dynamic nuclear polarization in a double quantum dot

The control of nuclear spins in quantum dots is essential to explore their many-body dynamics and exploit their prospects for quantum information processing. We present a unique combination of dynamic nuclear spin polarization and electric-dipole-induced spin resonance in an electrostatically defined double quantum dot (DQD) exposed to the strongly inhomogeneous field of two on-chip nanomagnets. Our experiments provide direct and unrivaled access to the nuclear spin polarization distribution and allow us to establish and characterize multiple fixed points. Further, we demonstrate polarization of the DQD environment by nuclear spin diffusion which significantly stabilizes the nuclear spins inside the DQD

Large nuclear spin polarization in gate-defined quantum dots using a single-domain nanomagnet

The electron-nuclei (hyperfine) interaction is central to spin qubits in solid state systems. It can be a severe decoherence source but also allows dynamic access to the nuclear spin states. We study a double quantum dot exposed to an on-chip single-domain nanomagnet and show that its inhomogeneous magnetic field crucially modifies the complex nuclear spin dynamics such that the Overhauser field tends to compensate external magnetic fields. This turns out to be beneficial for polarizing the nuclear spin ensemble. We reach a nuclear spin polarization of ~50%, unrivaled in lateral dots, and explain our manipulation technique using a comprehensive rate equation model

Nuclear spin cooling using Overhauser field selective coherent population trapping

Hyperfine interactions with a nuclear spin environment fundamentally limit the coherence properties of confined electron spins in the solid-state. Here, we show that a quantum interference effect in optical absorption from two electronic spin states of a solid-state emitter can be used to prepare the surrounding environment of nuclear spins in well-defined states, thereby suppressing electronic spin dephasing. The evolution of the coupled electron-nuclei system into a coherent population trapping state by optical excitation induced nuclear spin diffusion can be described in terms of Levy flights, in close analogy with sub-recoil laser cooling of atoms. The large difference in electronic and nuclear time scales simultaneously allow for a measurement of the magnetic field produced by nuclear spins, making it possible to turn the lasers that cause the anomalous spin diffusion process off when the strength of the resonance fluorescence reveals that the nuclear spins are in the desired narrow state.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure