66 research outputs found
Charge and Spin Effects in Mesoscopic Josephson Junctions
We consider the charge and spin effects in low dimensional superconducting
weak links. The first part of the review deals with the effects of
electron-electron interaction in Superconductor/Luttinger liquid/Superconductor
junctions. The experimental realization of this mesoscopic hybrid system can be
the individual single wall carbon nanotube that bridges the gap between two
bulk superconductors. The dc Josephson current through a Luttinger liquid in
the limits of perfectly and poorly transmitting junctions is evaluated. The
relationship between the Josephson effect in a long SNS junction and the
Casimir effect is discussed. In the second part of the paper we review the
recent results concerning the influence of the Zeeman and Rashba interactions
on the thermodynamical properties of ballistic S/QW/S junction fabricated in
two dimensional electron gas. It is shown that in magnetically controlled
junction there are conditions for resonant Cooper pair transition which results
in giant supercurrent through a tunnel junction and a giant magnetic response
of a multichannel SNS junction. The supercurrent induced by the joint action of
the Zeeman and Rashba interactions in 1D quantum wires connected to bulk
superconductors is predicted.Comment: 36 pages, 8 figures; minor changes in reference
Recipes for spin-based quantum computing
Technological growth in the electronics industry has historically been
measured by the number of transistors that can be crammed onto a single
microchip. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end; spectacular
growth in the number of transistors on a chip requires spectacular reduction of
the transistor size. For electrons in semiconductors, the laws of quantum
mechanics take over at the nanometre scale, and the conventional wisdom for
progress (transistor cramming) must be abandoned. This realization has
stimulated extensive research on ways to exploit the spin (in addition to the
orbital) degree of freedom of the electron, giving birth to the field of
spintronics. Perhaps the most ambitious goal of spintronics is to realize
complete control over the quantum mechanical nature of the relevant spins. This
prospect has motivated a race to design and build a spintronic device capable
of complete control over its quantum mechanical state, and ultimately,
performing computations: a quantum computer.
In this tutorial we summarize past and very recent developments which point
the way to spin-based quantum computing in the solid-state. After introducing a
set of basic requirements for any quantum computer proposal, we offer a brief
summary of some of the many theoretical proposals for solid-state quantum
computers. We then focus on the Loss-DiVincenzo proposal for quantum computing
with the spins of electrons confined to quantum dots. There are many obstacles
to building such a quantum device. We address these, and survey recent
theoretical, and then experimental progress in the field. To conclude the
tutorial, we list some as-yet unrealized experiments, which would be crucial
for the development of a quantum-dot quantum computer.Comment: 45 pages, 12 figures (low-res in preprint, high-res in journal)
tutorial review for Nanotechnology; v2: references added and updated, final
version to appear in journa
Spin current shot noise as a probe of interactions in mesoscopic systems
It is shown that the spin resolved current shot noise can probe attractive or
repulsive interactions in mesoscopic systems. This is illustrated in two
physical situations : i) a normal-superconducting junction where the spin
current noise is found to be zero, and ii) a single electron transistor (SET),
where the spin current noise is found to be Poissonian. Repulsive interactions
may also lead to weak attractive correlations (bunching of opposite spins) in
conditions far from equilibrium. Spin current shot noise can be used to measure
the spin relaxation time , and a set-up is proposed in a quantum dot
geometry.Comment: 5 pages, 4 Figures, revised version, added reference
Local Defect in Metallic Quantum Critical Systems
We present a theory of a single point, line or plane defect coupling to the
square of the order parameter in a metallic system near a quantum critical
point at or above its upper critical dimension. At criticality, a spin droplet
is nucleated around the defect with droplet core size determined by the
strength of the defect potential. Outside the core a universal slowly decaying
tail of the droplet is found, leading to many dissipative channels coupling to
the droplet and to a complete suppression of quantum tunneling. We propose an
NMR experiment to measure the impurity-induced changes in the local spin
susceptibility.Comment: 2 figures; 5 page
Semiclassical mechanics of a non-integrable spin cluster
We study detailed classical-quantum correspondence for a cluster system of
three spins with single-axis anisotropic exchange coupling. With autoregressive
spectral estimation, we find oscillating terms in the quantum density of states
caused by classical periodic orbits: in the slowly varying part of the density
of states we see signs of nontrivial topology changes happening to the energy
surface as the energy is varied. Also, we can explain the hierarchy of quantum
energy levels near the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic states with EKB
quantization to explain large structures and tunneling to explain small
structures.Comment: 9 pages. For related works see
"http://www.msc.cornell.edu/~clh/clh.html
Quantum computing with antiferromagnetic spin clusters
We show that a wide range of spin clusters with antiferromagnetic
intracluster exchange interaction allows one to define a qubit. For these spin
cluster qubits, initialization, quantum gate operation, and readout are
possible using the same techniques as for single spins. Quantum gate operation
for the spin cluster qubit does not require control over the intracluster
exchange interaction. Electric and magnetic fields necessary to effect quantum
gates need only be controlled on the length scale of the spin cluster rather
than the scale for a single spin. Here, we calculate the energy gap separating
the logical qubit states from the next excited state and the matrix elements
which determine quantum gate operation times. We discuss spin cluster qubits
formed by one- and two-dimensional arrays of s=1/2 spins as well as clusters
formed by spins s>1/2. We illustrate the advantages of spin cluster qubits for
various suggested implementations of spin qubits and analyze the scaling of
decoherence time with spin cluster size.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures; minor change
Instabilities in Luttinger liquids
We discuss the appearance of magnetic and charge instabilities, named
respectively metamagnetism (MM) and phase separation (PS), in systems which can
be described by a perturbed Luttinger liquid. We argue that such instabilities
can be associated with the vanishing of the effective Fermi velocity v, which
in some cases coincides with a divergence of the effective Luttinger parameter
K. We analyze in particular an XXZ chain with next-nearest-neighbor
interactions in different limits where MM shows up and an extended Hubbard
model where in turn, PS occurs. Qualitative agreement with previous studies is
found.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Electrical control over single hole spins in nanowire quantum dots
Single electron spins in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are a versatile
platform for quantum information processing, however controlling decoherence
remains a considerable challenge. Recently, hole spins have emerged as a
promising alternative. Holes in III-V semiconductors have unique properties,
such as strong spin-orbit interaction and weak coupling to nuclear spins, and
therefore have potential for enhanced spin control and longer coherence times.
Weaker hyperfine interaction has already been reported in self-assembled
quantum dots using quantum optics techniques. However, challenging fabrication
has so far kept the promise of hole-spin-based electronic devices out of reach
in conventional III-V heterostructures. Here, we report gate-tuneable hole
quantum dots formed in InSb nanowires. Using these devices we demonstrate Pauli
spin blockade and electrical control of single hole spins. The devices are
fully tuneable between hole and electron QDs, enabling direct comparison
between the hyperfine interaction strengths, g-factors and spin blockade
anisotropies in the two regimes
Spintronics: Fundamentals and applications
Spintronics, or spin electronics, involves the study of active control and
manipulation of spin degrees of freedom in solid-state systems. This article
reviews the current status of this subject, including both recent advances and
well-established results. The primary focus is on the basic physical principles
underlying the generation of carrier spin polarization, spin dynamics, and
spin-polarized transport in semiconductors and metals. Spin transport differs
from charge transport in that spin is a nonconserved quantity in solids due to
spin-orbit and hyperfine coupling. The authors discuss in detail spin
decoherence mechanisms in metals and semiconductors. Various theories of spin
injection and spin-polarized transport are applied to hybrid structures
relevant to spin-based devices and fundamental studies of materials properties.
Experimental work is reviewed with the emphasis on projected applications, in
which external electric and magnetic fields and illumination by light will be
used to control spin and charge dynamics to create new functionalities not
feasible or ineffective with conventional electronics.Comment: invited review, 36 figures, 900+ references; minor stylistic changes
from the published versio
Electron transport through double quantum dots
Electron transport experiments on two lateral quantum dots coupled in series
are reviewed. An introduction to the charge stability diagram is given in terms
of the electrochemical potentials of both dots. Resonant tunneling experiments
show that the double dot geometry allows for an accurate determination of the
intrinsic lifetime of discrete energy states in quantum dots. The evolution of
discrete energy levels in magnetic field is studied. The resolution allows to
resolve avoided crossings in the spectrum of a quantum dot. With microwave
spectroscopy it is possible to probe the transition from ionic bonding (for
weak inter-dot tunnel coupling) to covalent bonding (for strong inter-dot
tunnel coupling) in a double dot artificial molecule. This review on the
present experimental status of double quantum dot studies is motivated by their
relevance for realizing solid state quantum bits.Comment: 32 pages, 31 figure
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