Kondo Effect and Controlled Spin-Entanglement in Coupled Quantum Dots

A. Ramšak, Jernej Mravlje

A. M. Chang

Semiconductor double‐quantum dots represent an ideal system for studying the novel spin physics of localized spins. On each quantum dot when the number of electrons is odd and the net spin is 1/2, a strong coupling of this localized spin to conducting electrons in the leads gives rise to Kondo correlation. On the other hand, in the coupled double‐quantum‐dot if the inter‐dot antiferromagnetic interaction is strong, the two spins can form a correlated spin‐singlet state, quenching the Kondo effect. This competition between Kondo and antiferromagnetic correlation is studied in a controlled manner by tuning the inter‐dot tunnel coupling. Increasing the inter‐dot tunneling, we observe a continuous transition from a single‐peaked to a double‐peaked Kondo resonance in the differential conductance. On the double‐peaked side, the differential conductance becomes suppressed at zero source‐drain bias. The observed strong suppression of the differential conductance at zero bias provides direct evidence signaling the formation of an entangled spin‐singlet state. This evidence for entanglement and the tunability of our devices bode well for quantum computation applications.

L. I. Glazman, F. W. J. Hekking, A. I. Larkin

J. Simonin

We analyze the interactions between two Kondo Quantum Dots connected to a Rashba-active Quantum Wire. We find that the Kondo-doublet interaction, at an inter-dot distance of the order of the wire Fermi length, is over an order of magnitude greater than the RKKY interaction. The effects induced on the Kondo-doublet interaction by the wire spin-orbit coupling can be used to control the Quantum Dots spin-spin correlation. These results imply that the widely used assumption that the RKKY is the dominant interaction between Anderson impurities must be revised.

Vitaly N. Golovach, Daniel Loss

We study the interplay between Kondo correlations and the singlet-triplet exchange splitting K between the two spins in a double quantum dot. We calculate the cotunneling current with elastic and inelastic contributions and its renormalization due to Kondo correlations, away and at the degeneracy point K = 0. We show that these Kondo correlations induce pronounced peaks in the conductance G as a function of magnetic field B , inter-dot coupling t H , and temperature. The long-range part of the Coulomb interaction becomes visible due to Kondo correlations resulting in an additional peak in G vs. t H with a strong B -field dependence. These conductance peaks thus provide direct experimental access to K , and thus to a crucial control parameter for spin-based qubits and entanglement.

Karyn Le Hur