Isolation of Single Donors in ZnO

The shallow donor in zinc oxide (ZnO) is a promising semiconductor spin qubit with optical access. Single indium donors are isolated in a commercial ZnO substrate using plasma focused ion beam (PFIB) milling. Quantum emitters are identified optically by spatial and frequency filtering. The indium donor assignment is based on the optical bound exciton transition energy and magnetic dependence. The single donor emission is intensity and frequency stable with a transition linewidth less than twice the lifetime limit. The isolation of optically stable single donors post-FIB fabrication is promising for optical device integration required for scalable quantum technologies based on single donors in direct band gap semiconductors.Comment: E. R. Hansen and V. Niaouris contributed equally to this work. 13 pages, 11 figure

Optical initialization, readout, and dynamics of a Mn spin in a quantum dot

We have investigated the spin preparation efficiency by optical pumping of individual Mn atoms embedded in CdTe/ZnTe quantum dots. Monitoring the time dependence of the intensity of the fluorescence during the resonant optical pumping process in individual quantum dots allows to directly probe the dynamics of the initialization of the Mn spin. This technique presents the convenience of including preparation and readout of the Mn spin in the same step. Our measurements demonstrate that Mn spin initialization, at zero magnetic field, can reach an efficiency of 75% and occurs in the tens of nanoseconds range when a laser resonantly drives at saturation one of the quantum-dot transition. We observe that the efficiency of optical pumping changes from dot-to-dot and is affected by a magnetic field of a few tens of millitesla applied in Voigt or Faraday configuration. This is attributed to the local strain distribution at the Mn location which predominantly determines the dynamics of the Mn spin under weak magnetic field. The spectral distribution of the spin-flip-scattered photons from quantum dots presenting a weak optical pumping efficiency reveals a significant spin relaxation for the exciton split in the exchange field of the Mn spin.This work is supported by the French ANR contract QuAMOS and Fondation Nanoscience (RTRAGrenoble). J.F.R. acknowledges funding from MEC-Spain (Grants No. MAT07-67845 and CONSOLIDER No. CSD2007-0010)

Optical Control of a Mn spin embedded in a quantum dot

International audienc

Optical spin orientation of a single manganese atom in a semiconductor quantum dot using quasi-resonant excitation

International audienceAn optical spin orientation is achieved for a Mn atom localized in a semiconductor quantum dot using quasiresonant excitation at zero magnetic field. Optically created spin-polarized carriers generate an energy splitting of the Mn spin and enable magnetic moment orientation controlled by the photon helicity and energy. The dynamics and the magnetic field dependence of the optical pumping mechanism show that the spin lifetime of an isolated Mn atom at zero magnetic field is controlled by a magnetic anisotropy induced by the built-in strain in the quantum dots

Luminescence of Femtosecond Laser-Processed ZnSe Crystal

The ZnSe single crystal treatment in air environment with linearly polarized Ti/sapphire femtosecond (fs)laser pulses of the energy density of around 0.04-0.05 J/cm2 with central wavelength of 800 nm and the pulse duration of 140 fs at a repetition rate of 1 kHz generates the laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSSs). The setup with a cylindrical quartz lens at normal incidence allowed processing a relatively large area of the ZnSe sample in one pass of the laser beam. Morphology analysis of LIPSS by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and image processing reveals the existence of two periods of around 200.0 nm and 630.0 nm simultaneously. All LIPSSs demonstrate the orientation perpendicular to the laser beam polarization. The possible nature of LIPSS formation on ZnSe single crystal is caused by the synergetic influence of the interference mechanism involving surface plasmon polaritons and hydrodynamic effects of surface morphology modification. The fs-laser-induced changes of carrier concentrations in ZnSe specify obtained periods of high spatial frequency LIPSS. The influence of femtosecond laser processing on luminescent properties of ZnSe single crystal has been studied by an analysis of the photoluminescence (PL) and X-ray luminescence (XRL) spectra of laser-treated and untreated areas in the visible region of spectrum at room and low temperatures. The PL spectra and XRL spectra, as well as temperature dependencies of XRL spectra or thermally stimulated luminescence curves, demonstrate a good correlation for untreated and fs-laser-treated ZnSe surfaces. Specific PL bands related to the extended structural defects do not appear for LIPSS at the ZnSe sample under an excitation of 337 nm (3.68 eV). The Relative intensities and position of separate components of observed luminescence bands after ultrashort laser treatment do not change significantly. Thus, the structural perfection of the ZnSe single crystal surface is preserved

Two-colour photocurrent detection technique for coherent control of a single InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot

We present a two-colour photocurrent detection method for coherent control of a single InGaAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dot. A pulse shaping technique provides a high degree of control over picosecond optical pulses. Rabi rotations on the exciton to biexciton transition are presented, and fine structure beating is detected via time-resolved measurements. (c) 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinhei