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A solid-state spin coherent photo-detector for quantum communication

Rutger B. Vrijen, Eli Yablonovitch

Published Apr 19, 2000• 2 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We describe how quantum information may be transferred from photon polarization to electron spin in a semiconductor device. The transfer of quantum information relies on selection rules for optical transitions, such that two superposed photon polarizations excite two superposed spin states. Entanglement of the electron spin state with the spin state of the remaining hole is prevented by using a single, non-degenerate initial valence band. The degeneracy of the valence band is lifted by the combination of strain and a static magnetic field. We give a detailed description of a semiconductor structure that transfers photon polarization to electron spin coherently, and allows electron spins to be stored and to be made available for quantum information processing.

Related papers

Coherent transfer of spin and entanglement in optoelectronics

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In the last few years there has been a growing interest in the possible applications of quantum properties of different physical systems in well established technologies. This was motivated by the miniaturization of electronic devices. For very small systems, the laws of quantum mechanics start to govern their behavior and it is then to expect that for instance electronic components reach their "quantum limit". A good example of the introduction of quantum properties into conventional technologies is the case of the electron spin, which offers an alternative to electron-charge for the storage and transport of information in electronics. The idea of using electron spins in electronics gave rise to the new and exciting field of spintronics and was encouraged by experiments that showed coherent spin transport over long distances (over hundred micrometers) in semiconductors and long electron spin dephasing times. In addition to its applications in conventional technologies, the use of the electron spin as information-carrier has been suggested for the new field of quantum information processing. An important advantage of the electron spin with respect to other quantum information-carriers proposed is that it can profit from the well developed semiconductor industry and its related technologies. For the long-range transport of information, however, the highly interacting environment in solid-state devices represents a difficulty to the use of electron spins. In contrast, photons are very weekly coupled to their environment, and therefore more suitable for the transfer of information over long distances (on the order of kilometers), required, for instance, in quantum communication. Furthermore, the technology needed for the transport of photons over such long distances is well developed. Thus, an efficient transfer of quantum information between electron spins and photons is highly desirable. \n \nIn this dissertation, we show that the transfer of entanglement, a quantum correlation, from electron spins to the polarization of photons is not only theoretically possible, but also feasible under realistic experimental conditions. We study the transport of an entangled pair of electron spins through Fermi leads which split them spatially until they reach spin-LEDs, semiconductor structures containing quantum dots. In these structures, the electrons optically recombine with holes, producing then photons. We analyze the polarization state of the out-coming photons and give the conditions for which the entanglement of the electron spins is fully recovered in the photon-polarizations. We further show that it is possible to produce four-photon entanglement. \n \nWe also include in this work the study of coherent spin-transfer between quantum dots layers bridged by molecules. This study was motivated by an experiment showing that the molecules act not only as binders to construct the multilayer structures, but also as "wires" for the information through electron spins in the quantum dots. We show that a two-site Hamiltonian captures some of the essential features of the experiment. We calculate the dependence of the experimentally observed Faraday rotation (FR) signal as a function of probe energy on microscopic parameters such as spin transfer probabilities. The Faraday angle is related to the difference in the dielectric response for different polarizations of the light. We calculate the dielectric response functions of coupled quantum dots and derive an analytical expression for the FR angle in terms of electron transfer probabilities and Heisenberg exchange splittings.

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The transmission of quantum information over long distances will allow new forms of data security, based on quantum cryptography. These new technologies rely for security on the quantum "uncertainty principle" and on the long distance transmission of "quantum entanglement". A new type of tele-communications device called the "quantum repeater" can allow the faithful transmission of quantum information over worldwide distances, in spite of the inevitably severe losses while propagating along optical fibers. In a quantum repeater, information is stored in the quantum state of a semiconductor electron spin, while complementary entangled information is transmitted as a photon down the optical fiber. This long-range entanglement permits the execution of the teleportation algorithm, which accurately transmits a quantum state over long distances. The basis for an opto-electronic quantum repeater is an entanglement preserving InP photodetector with special selection rules, in which polarization information from a photon is transferred to spin polarization information of a photo-electron, and vice versa. Nevertheless, the algorithm requires that the photo-electron be transferred to a group IV semiconductor for long time storage since there is rapid loss of quantum information in III-V semiconductors. This paper reviews the experimental status of semiconductor quantum repeaters, including the spin resonance transistor logic gates, and the experimental detection of single photons in a manner that preserves their spin information.

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Photon-to-electron quantum information transfer

Hideo Kosaka

Spin is a fundamental property of electrons and plays an important role in information storage. For spin-based quantum information technology, preparation and read-out of the electron spin state must be spin coherent, but both the traditional preparation and read-out of the spin state are projective to up/down spin states, which do not have spin coherence. We have recently demonstrated that the polarization coherence of light can be coherently transferred to the spin coherence of electrons in a semiconductor. We have also developed a new scheme named tomographic Kerr rotation (TKR) by generalizing the traditional KR to directly read out the spin coherence of optically prepared electrons without the need for the spin dynamics, which allows the spin projection measurement in an arbitrary set of basis states. These demonstrations were performed using g-factor-controlled semiconductor quantum wells with precessing and non-precessing electrons. The developed scheme offers a tool for performing basis-independent preparation and read-out of a spin quantum state in a solid. These results encourage us to make a quantum media converter between flying photon qubits and stationary electron spin qubits in semiconductors.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Feb 10, 2011•0 citations
We describe how quantum information may be transferred from photon polarization to electron spin in a semiconductor device. The transfer of quantum information relies on selection rules for optical transitions, such that two superposed photon polarizations excite two superposed spin states. Entanglement of the electron spin state with the spin state of the remaining hole is prevented by using a single, non-degenerate initial valence band. The degeneracy of the valence band is lifted by the combination of strain and a static magnetic field. We give a detailed description of a semiconductor structure that transfers photon polarization to electron spin coherently, and allows electron spins to be stored and to be made available for quantum information processing.
In the last few years there has been a growing interest in the possible applications of quantum properties of different physical systems in well established technologies. This was motivated by the miniaturization of electronic devices. For very small systems, the laws of quantum mechanics start to govern their behavior and it is then to expect that for instance electronic components reach their "quantum limit". A good example of the introduction of quantum properties into conventional technologies is the case of the electron spin, which offers an alternative to electron-charge for the storage and transport of information in electronics. The idea of using electron spins in electronics gave rise to the new and exciting field of spintronics and was encouraged by experiments that showed coherent spin transport over long distances (over hundred micrometers) in semiconductors and long electron spin dephasing times. In addition to its applications in conventional technologies, the use of the electron spin as information-carrier has been suggested for the new field of quantum information processing. An important advantage of the electron spin with respect to other quantum information-carriers proposed is that it can profit from the well developed semiconductor industry and its related technologies. For the long-range transport of information, however, the highly interacting environment in solid-state devices represents a difficulty to the use of electron spins. In contrast, photons are very weekly coupled to their environment, and therefore more suitable for the transfer of information over long distances (on the order of kilometers), required, for instance, in quantum communication. Furthermore, the technology needed for the transport of photons over such long distances is well developed. Thus, an efficient transfer of quantum information between electron spins and photons is highly desirable. \n \nIn this dissertation, we show that the transfer of entanglement, a quantum correlation, from electron spins to the polarization of photons is not only theoretically possible, but also feasible under realistic experimental conditions. We study the transport of an entangled pair of electron spins through Fermi leads which split them spatially until they reach spin-LEDs, semiconductor structures containing quantum dots. In these structures, the electrons optically recombine with holes, producing then photons. We analyze the polarization state of the out-coming photons and give the conditions for which the entanglement of the electron spins is fully recovered in the photon-polarizations. We further show that it is possible to produce four-photon entanglement. \n \nWe also include in this work the study of coherent spin-transfer between quantum dots layers bridged by molecules. This study was motivated by an experiment showing that the molecules act not only as binders to construct the multilayer structures, but also as "wires" for the information through electron spins in the quantum dots. We show that a two-site Hamiltonian captures some of the essential features of the experiment. We calculate the dependence of the experimentally observed Faraday rotation (FR) signal as a function of probe energy on microscopic parameters such as spin transfer probabilities. The Faraday angle is related to the difference in the dielectric response for different polarizations of the light. We calculate the dielectric response functions of coupled quantum dots and derive an analytical expression for the FR angle in terms of electron transfer probabilities and Heisenberg exchange splittings.
The transmission of quantum information over long distances will allow new forms of data security, based on quantum cryptography. These new technologies rely for security on the quantum "uncertainty principle" and on the long distance transmission of "quantum entanglement". A new type of tele-communications device called the "quantum repeater" can allow the faithful transmission of quantum information over worldwide distances, in spite of the inevitably severe losses while propagating along optical fibers. In a quantum repeater, information is stored in the quantum state of a semiconductor electron spin, while complementary entangled information is transmitted as a photon down the optical fiber. This long-range entanglement permits the execution of the teleportation algorithm, which accurately transmits a quantum state over long distances. The basis for an opto-electronic quantum repeater is an entanglement preserving InP photodetector with special selection rules, in which polarization information from a photon is transferred to spin polarization information of a photo-electron, and vice versa. Nevertheless, the algorithm requires that the photo-electron be transferred to a group IV semiconductor for long time storage since there is rapid loss of quantum information in III-V semiconductors. This paper reviews the experimental status of semiconductor quantum repeaters, including the spin resonance transistor logic gates, and the experimental detection of single photons in a manner that preserves their spin information.
Abstract Long distance entanglement distribution is an important problem for quantum information technologies to solve. Current optical schemes are known to have fundamental limitations. A coherent photon-to-spin interface built with quantum dots (QDs) in a direct bandgap semiconductor can provide a solution for efficient entanglement distribution. QD circuits offer integrated spin processing for full Bell state measurement (BSM) analysis and spin quantum memory. Crucially the photo-generated spins can be heralded by non-destructive charge detection techniques. We review current schemes to transfer a polarization-encoded state or a time-bin-encoded state of a photon to the state of a spin in a QD. The spin may be that of an electron or that of a hole. We describe adaptations of the original schemes to employ heavy holes which have a number of attractive properties including a g -factor that is tunable to zero for QDs in an appropriately oriented external magnetic field. We also introduce simple throughput scaling models to demonstrate the potential performance advantage of full BSM capability in a QD scheme, even when the quantum memory is imperfect, over optical schemes relying on linear optical elements and ensemble quantum memories.
We demonstrate that a coherent superposition state of two temporally separated optical pulses, called a time-bin state, can be transferred to that of up/down electron spins in a semiconductor by synchronizing the time separation to the precession period of either electrons or holes. The time-bin transfer scheme does not require polarization mode degeneracy and can map the time-bin state to the electron spin state that is not accessible directly using only polarization. The scheme offers a new approach for quantum interfaces between photons and electron spins.
We demonstrate that the superposition of light polarization states is coherently transferred to electron spins in a semiconductor quantum well. By using time-resolved Kerr rotation, we observe the initial phase of Larmor precession of electron spins whose coherence is transferred from light. To break the electron-hole spin entanglement, we utilized the big discrepancy between the transverse g factors of electrons and light-holes. The result encourages us to make a quantum media converter between flying photon qubits and stationary electron-spin qubits in semiconductors.
Spin is a fundamental property of electrons and plays an important role in information storage. For spin-based quantum information technology, preparation and read-out of the electron spin state must be spin coherent, but both the traditional preparation and read-out of the spin state are projective to up/down spin states, which do not have spin coherence. We have recently demonstrated that the polarization coherence of light can be coherently transferred to the spin coherence of electrons in a semiconductor. We have also developed a new scheme named tomographic Kerr rotation (TKR) by generalizing the traditional KR to directly read out the spin coherence of optically prepared electrons without the need for the spin dynamics, which allows the spin projection measurement in an arbitrary set of basis states. These demonstrations were performed using g-factor-controlled semiconductor quantum wells with precessing and non-precessing electrons. The developed scheme offers a tool for performing basis-independent preparation and read-out of a spin quantum state in a solid. These results encourage us to make a quantum media converter between flying photon qubits and stationary electron spin qubits in semiconductors.