Maxwell-Schrödinger hybrid simulation for optically controlling quantum states: A scheme for designing control pulses

Abstract

A scheme of designing laser pulses for controlling discrete quantum states has been proposed, relying on the recently developed highly accurate Maxwell-Schr\"odinger hybrid simulation. A single electron confined in a quasi-one-dimensional nanoscale potential well has been used as an illustrative example and a control pulse transferring completely the probability density from the ground state to the first excited state has been designed by the present Maxwell-Schr\"odinger hybrid scheme and by the conventional one that solves the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation only without accounting for feedback from the electron system to the external electromagnetic field. The resultant pulses obtained by these two methods can be different largely owing to the modification of the laser field by the locally strong radiation from the excited electron. The present study demonstrates that light control pulses designed by the conventional method may need to be rectified for practical implementation in experiments.