arXiv:quant-ph/0410094 · Journal of Applied Physics
Single photoelectron trapping, storage, and detection in a one-electron quantum dot
Deepak Sethu Rao, Thomas Szkopek, Hans D. Robinson, Eli Yablonovitch, H. W. Jiang
Abstract
There has been considerable progress in electrostatically emptying, and refilling, quantum dots with individual electrons. Typically the quantum dot is defined by electrostatic gates on a GaAs∕AlyGa1−yAs modulation-doped heterostructure. We report the filling of such a quantum dot by a single photoelectron, originating from an individual photon. The electrostatic dot can be emptied and reset in a controlled fashion before the arrival of each photon. The trapped photoelectron is detected by a point contact transistor integrated adjacent to the electrostatic potential trap. Each stored photoelectron causes a persistent negative step in the transistor channel current. Such a controllable, benign, single photoelectron detector could allow for information transfer between flying photon qubits and stored electron qubits.