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arXiv:0705.3166 · Physical Review Letters

Frequency-Selective Single-Photon Detection Using a Double Quantum Dot

Simon Gustavsson, M. Studer, Renaud Leturcq, Thomas Ihn, K. Ensslin, Daniel C. Driscoll, Arthur C. Gossard

Published Nov 14, 2007• 170 citations
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Abstract

We use a double quantum dot as a frequency-tunable on-chip microwave detector to investigate the radiation from electron shot-noise in a near-by quantum point contact. The device is realized by monitoring the inelastic tunneling of electrons between the quantum dots due to photon absorption. The frequency of the absorbed radiation is set by the energy separation between the dots, which is easily tuned with gate voltages. Using time-resolved charge-detection techniques, we can directly relate the detection of a tunneling electron to the absorption of a single photon.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.99.206804

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The ability to detect single photons makes it possible to investigate the quantum properties of light and to implement strategies for quantum cryptography and quantum communications with single photons as the information carriers. To date, photon detectors have come in two guises: They can be designed either for sensitivity at a single energy or over a broad range of energies, but neither option has offered on-chip tunability of the detected wavelength. Gustavsson et al. now describe a frequency-tunable single-photon detector for the microwave regime using a double quantum dot structure. They are able to shift the discrete energy levels of one dot with respect to the other by application of appropriate gate voltages. Using time-resolved charge detection techniques, they can then directly relate the detection of a tunneling electron to the absorption of a single photon, the energy of which corresponds to the tuned energy-level separation between the two dots. — ISO
We have realized a hybrid solid-state quantum device in which a single-electron semiconductor double quantum dot is dipole coupled to a superconducting microwave frequency transmission line resonator. The dipolar interaction between the two entities manifests itself via dispersive and dissipative effects observed as frequency shifts and linewidth broadenings of the photonic mode respectively. A Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian master equation calculation is used to model the combined system response and allows for determining both the coherence properties of the double quantum dot and its interdot tunnel coupling with high accuracy. The value and uncertainty of the tunnel coupling extracted from the microwave read-out technique are compared to a standard quantum point contact charge detection analysis. The two techniques are found to be consistent with a superior precision for the microwave experiment when tunneling rates approach the resonator eigenfrequency. Decoherence properties of the double dot are further investigated as a function of the number of electrons inside the dots. They are found to be similar in the single-electron and many-electron regimes suggesting that the density of the confinement energy spectrum plays a minor role in the decoherence rate of the system under investigation.
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 noncoherent electronic transitions in the quantum dots.
Detectors of microwave photons find applications in different fields ranging from security to cosmology. Due to the intrinsic difficulties related to the detection of vanishingly small energy quanta ℏ ω , significant portions of the microwave electromagnetic spectrum are still uncovered by suitable techniques. No prevailing technology has clearly emerged yet, although different solutions have been tested in different contexts. Here, we focus on semiconductor quantum dots, which feature wide tunability by external gate voltages and scalability for large architectures. We discuss possible pathways for the development of microwave photon detectors based on photon-assisted tunneling in semiconducting double quantum dot circuits. In particular, we consider implementations based on either broadband transmission lines or resonant cavities, and we discuss how developments in charge sensing techniques and hybrid architectures may be beneficial for the development of efficient photon detectors in the microwave range.
We demonstrate single-shot detection of single electrons generated by single photons using an electrically tunable quantum dot and a quantum point contact charge detector. By tuning the quantum dot in a Coulomb blockade before the photoexcitation, we observe the trapping and subsequent resetting of single photogenerated electrons. The photogenerated electrons can be stored in the dot for a tunable time range from shorter to longer than the spin-flip time T1. We combine this trap-reset technique with spin-dependent tunneling under magnetic fields to observe the spin-dependent photon detection within the T1.