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arXiv:0801.4002 · Physical Review Letters

Telegraph Noise in Coupled Quantum Dot Circuits Induced by a Quantum Point Contact

D. Taubert, Michel Pioro-Ladrière, D. Schröer, D. Harbusch, Andy S. Sachrajda, Stefan Ludwig

Published May 2, 2008• 46 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Charge detection utilizing a highly biased quantum point contact has become the most effective probe for studying few electron quantum dot circuits. Measurements on double and triple quantum dot circuits is performed to clarify a back action role of charge sensing on the confined electrons. The quantum point contact triggers inelastic transitions, which occur quite generally. Under specific device and measurement conditions these transitions manifest themselves as bounded regimes of telegraph noise within a stability diagram. A nonequilibrium transition from artificial atomic to molecular behavior is identified. Consequences for quantum information applications are discussed.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.100.176805

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Charge detection utilizing a highly biased quantum point contact has become the most effective probe for studying few electron quantum dot circuits. Measurements on double and triple quantum dot circuits is performed to clarify a back action role of charge sensing on the confined electrons. The quantum point contact triggers inelastic transitions, which occur quite generally. Under specific device and measurement conditions these transitions manifest themselves as bounded regimes of telegraph noise within a stability diagram. A nonequilibrium transition from artificial atomic to molecular behavior is identified. Consequences for quantum information applications are discussed.
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.
Charge detection at microsecond time-scales has far reaching consequences in both technology and in our understanding of electron dynamics in nanoscale devices such as quantum dots. Radio-frequency superconducting single electron transistors (RF-SET) and quantum point contacts (QPC) are ultra sensitive charge sensors operating near the quantum limit. The operation of RF-SETs outside the superconducting gap has been a topic of study; the sub-gap operation, especially in the presence of large quantum fluctuations of quasiparticles remains largely unexplored, both theoretically and experimentally. We have investigated the effects of quantum fluctuations of quasiparticles on the operation of RF-SETs for large values of the quasiparticle cotunneling parameter alpha = 8EJ/Ec, where EJ and Ec are the Josephson and charging energies. We find that, for alpha > 1, sub-gap RF-SET operation is still feasible despite quantum fluctuations that wash out quasiparticle tunneling thresholds. Such RF-SETs show linearity and signal-to-noise ratio superior to those obtained when quantum fluctuations are weak, while still demonstrating excellent charge sensitivity.\nWe have operated a QPC charge detector in a radio frequency mode that allows fast charge detection in a bandwidth of several megahertz. The noise limiting the sensitivity of the charge detector is not the noise of a secondary amplifier, but the non-equilibrium device noise of the QPC itself. The noise power averaged over a measurement bandwidth of about 10MHz around the carrier frequency is in agreement with the theory of photon-assisted shot noise. Frequency-resolved measurements, however show several significant discrepancies with the theoretical predictions. The measurement techniques developed can also be used to investigate the noise of other semiconductor nanostructures such as quantum dots in the Kondo regime.\nA study of the noise characteristics alone can not determine whether the device is operating at the quantum limit; a characterization of back action is also necessary. The inelastic current through a double quantum dot system (DQD) is sensitive to the spectral density of voltage fluctuations in its electromagnetic environment. Electrical transport studies on a DQD system electrostatically coupled to an SET shows qualitative evidence of back-action of SET. The design and fabrication of a few electron DQD device with integrated RF-SET and QPC charge sensors for the study of back action of the sensors and real-time electron dynamics in the DQD are also discussed.
Charge sensing with quantum point-contacts (QPCs) is a technique widely used in semiconductor quantum-dot research. Understanding the physics of this measurement process, as well as finding ways of suppressing unwanted measurement back-action, are therefore both desirable. In this article, we present experimental studies targeting these two goals. Firstly, we measure the effect of a QPC on electron tunneling between two InAs quantum dots, and show that a model based on the QPC’s shot-noise can account for it. Secondly, we discuss the possibility of lowering the measurement current (and thus the back-action) used for charge sensing by correlating the signals of two independent measurement channels. The performance of this method is tested in a typical experimental setup.
We derive an analytical expression for the backaction dephasing rate, which characterizes the disturbance induced by coupling with an environment containing a quantum dot detector (QDD). In this paper, we show in an explicit form that the charge noise induces backaction dephasing. In equilibrium, this backaction dephasing induced by the charge noise can be explained as a relaxation by an inelastic electron-electron scattering in Fermi-liquid theory. Unlike the quantum point contact, the backaction dephasing rate increases or decreases with the bias at low bias and finite-temperature condition. This behavior depends on the QDD energy level with respect to the Fermi energy and the asymmetry of the QDD coupling to the reservoirs. In the high bias voltage regime, the dephasing rate becomes insensitive to the bias because of the saturation of the charge noise.
Quantum information and quantum computation implementation in terms of electron charges and spin has attracted tremendous attention for the development of large-scale quantum information processing [1-5]. Artificial and tunable charge qubits fabricated in a semiconductor nanostructure are suitable for the purpose, since various parameters can be controlled by external gate voltages [6,7]. The rapid control of external gate voltage in two-electron double quantum dots has been demonstrated [8,9].Entanglement has recently emerged as a significant resource in quantum information and other applications. However an important problem is to ensure the robustness of this resource; that is, the ability to maintain it against decay. Decoherence is one of the fundamental limitation in quantum information science, and the understanding and the control of its dynamics appears as a crucial issue for the development of quantum information devices.For charge qubits in quantum dots, the effects of phonons and electromagnetic and background charge fluctuations are important in the decoherence process. The effect of phonons on the dynamics of two charge qubits has been examined [10,11].In this work, we analyze the effect of telegraph noise on the dynamical of two electrons in laterally coupled quantum dots. The resulting qubit is supposed to evolve in the basis spanned by the states |0〉 and |1〉 which describe the electron localized in the left and right dot respectively. We investigate theoretically the quantum dynamics of two interacting electrons driven by an oscillatory electric field. In order to study the effect of the telegraph noise on the entanglement we adopt the concurrence.
We study theoretically transitions of a double quantum-dot qubit caused by nonequilibrium charge fluctuations in a nearby quantum point contact (QPC) used as a detector. We show that these transitions are related to the fundamental Heisenberg backaction associated with the measurement, and use the uncertainty principle to derive a lower bound on the transition rates. We also derive simple expressions for the transition rates for the usual model of a QPC as a mesoscopic conductor, with screening treated at the RPA level. Finally, numerical results are presented which demonstrate that the charge noise and shot noise backaction mechanisms can be distinguished in QPCs having nonadiabatic potentials. The enhanced sensitivity of the charge noise to the QPC potential is explained in terms of interference contributions similar to those which cause Friedel oscillations.