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arXiv:2006.06046 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Controlling spin without magnetic fields: The Bloch-Rashba rotator

C. E. Creffield

Published Aug 31, 2020• 2 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We consider the dynamics of a quantum particle held in a lattice potential and subjected to a time-dependent spin-orbit coupling. Tilting the lattice causes the particle to perform Bloch oscillations, and by suitably changing the Rashba interaction during its motion, the spin of the particle can be gradually rotated. Even if the Rashba coupling can only be altered by a small amount, large spin rotations can be obtained by accumulating the rotation from successive oscillations. We show how the time dependence of the spin-orbit coupling can be chosen to maximize the rotation per cycle, and thus how this method can be used to produce a precise and controllable spin rotator, which we term the Bloch-Rashba rotator, without requiring an applied magnetic field.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.102.085436

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We consider the dynamics of a quantum particle held in a lattice potential and subjected to a time-dependent spin-orbit coupling. Tilting the lattice causes the particle to perform Bloch oscillations, and by suitably changing the Rashba interaction during its motion, the spin of the particle can be gradually rotated. Even if the Rashba coupling can only be altered by a small amount, large spin rotations can be obtained by accumulating the rotation from successive oscillations. We show how the time dependence of the spin-orbit coupling can be chosen to maximize the rotation per cycle, and thus how this method can be used to produce a precise and controllable spin rotator, which we term the Bloch-Rashba rotator, without requiring an applied magnetic field.
Focusing on the efficient probe and manipulation of single-particle spin states, we investigate the coupled spin and orbital dynamics of a spin-1/2 particle in a harmonic potential subject to ultrastrong spin-orbit interaction and external magnetic field. The advantage of these systems is the clear visualization of the strong spin-orbit coupling in the orbital dynamics. We also investigate the effect of a time-dependent coupling: Its nonadiabatic change causes an interesting interplay of spin and orbital motion which is related to the direction and magnitude of the applied magnetic field. This result suggests that orbital state manipulation can be realized through ultrastrong spin-orbit interactions, becoming a useful tool for handling entangled spin and orbital degrees of freedom to produce, for example, spin-desirable polarizations in time that are interesting for spintronics implementations.
Abstract We consider a macroscopic spin qubit based on spin–orbit coupled Bose–Einstein condensates, where, in addition to the spin–orbit coupling (SOC), spin dynamics strongly depends on the interaction between particles. The evolution of the spin for freely expanding, trapped, and externally driven condensates is investigated. For condensates oscillating at the frequency corresponding to the Zeeman splitting in the synthetic magnetic field, the spin Rabi frequency does not depend on the interaction between the atoms since it produces only internal forces and does not change the total momentum. However, interactions and SOC bring the system into a mixed spin state, where the total spin is inside rather than on the Bloch sphere. This greatly extends the available spin space making it three-dimensional, but imposes limitations on the reliable spin manipulation of such a macroscopic qubit. The spin dynamics can be modified by introducing suitable spin-dependent initial phases, determined by the SOC, in the spinor wave function.
Tuning spin-orbit coupling is essential in controlling both spin and charge in confined semiconductor nanostructures, yet it is rarely a truly controllable parameter. Here, we show control over the spin-orbit Hamiltonian in quantum dots and the resulting quantum states by tailoring the confinement potential with atomic-scale precision. Using scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy, we pattern individual Cs ions into designer quantum dot structures on the surface of indium antimonide, in which electrons from a two-dimensional electron gas are confined with chosen in-plane electric-field gradients. We then quantify the atomic level structure, both spatially resolving the orbital character of the electronic states and their magnetic-field evolution. We demonstrate that the level structure, including the induced zero-field splitting, can be tailored by the designed geometry of the local electric fields. These effects can be described using a Hamiltonian that allows consistent treatment of the confinement-induced spin-orbit coupling beyond the conventional Bychkov-Rashba description. This Hamiltonian is derived from a multiband k.p model and takes the energy dependence of the relevant physical parameters into account. Such precise control of spin-orbit coupling in semiconductor quantum dots is relevant to quantum and spintronic technologies.
The spin-sensitive charge oscillation, controlled by an external magnetic field, was recently proposed as a mechanism of transformations of qubits, defined as two-electron spin-charge Wannier molecules in a square quantum dot.1 The paper expands this idea by including the effects of Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling. The problem is studied theoretically by mapping the system to an analytic effective Hamiltonian for 8 low-energy states, comprising singlet and triplet on each dot diagonal. The validity of mapping is confirmed by comparing the energy and spin of full and mapped system, and also by the reproduction of charge-oscillation dynamics in the presence of magnetic flux. The newly introduced Rashba coupling significantly enriches the system dynamics, affecting the magnitude of charge oscillations and allowing the controlled transitions between singlet and triplet states due to the spin rotations, induced by spin-orbit coupling. The results indicate the possibility for use of the studied system for quantum information processing, while possible extensions of the system to serve as a qubit in a universal quantum computer, fulfilling all five Di Vincenzo criteria, is also discussed.
Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) can give rise to interesting physics, from spin Hall to topological insulators, in condensed matter systems. Recently, this topical area has extended into atomic quantum gases in searching for artificial or synthetic gauge potentials. The prospects of tunable interaction and quantum state control promote neutral atoms as nature's quantum emulators for SOC. Lin et al. recently demonstrated a special form of the SOC ${k}_{x}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{y}$, which they interpret as an equal superposition of Rashba and Dresselhaus couplings in Bose-condensed atoms [Lin, Jim\'enez-Garc\'{\i}a, and Spielman, Nature (London) 471, 83 (2011)]. This work reports a method of implementing arbitrary forms of SOC by switching between two pairs of Raman laser pulses like the method used by Lin et al. While one pair affects ${k}_{x}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{y}$ for some time, a second pair creates ${k}_{y}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{y}$ at other times with Raman pulses from different directions and a subsequent spin rotation into $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}{k}_{y}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{x}$. With a sufficient number of pulses, the effective actions from different durations are small and accumulate in the same exponent despite the fact that ${k}_{x}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{y}$ and $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}{k}_{y}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{x}$ do not commute. Our scheme involves no added complication and can be demonstrated within current experiments. It applies equally to bosonic or fermionic atoms.
The spin-orbit coupling (SOC) affecting the center of mass of ultracold atoms can be simulated using a properly chosen periodic sequence of magnetic pulses. Yet such a method is generally accompanied by micromotion, which hinders precise control of atomic dynamics, thus complicating practical applications. Here we show how to bypass the micromotion emerging in the magnetically induced SOC by properly switching on and off the oscillating magnetic fields at the initial and final times. We consider the exact dynamics of the system and demonstrate that the overall dynamics can be immune to the micromotion. The exact dynamics is shown to agree well with the evolution of the system described by the slowly changing effective Floquet Hamiltonian including the SOC term. The agreement is shown to be best when the phase of the periodic driving takes a specific value for which the effect of the spin-orbit coupling is maximum.