Design Of Quantum Devices Research Articles

Cooperative dynamic polaronic picture of diamond color centers

Polarons can control carrier mobility and can also be used in the design of quantum devices. Although much effort has been directed into investigating the nature of polarons, observation of defect-related polarons is challenging due to electron-defect scattering. Here we explore the polaronic behavior of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in a diamond crystal using an ultrafast pump-probe technique. A 10-fs optical pulse acts as a source of high electric field exceeding the dielectric breakdown threshold, in turn exerting a force on the NV charge distribution and polar optical phonons. The electronic and phononic responses are enhanced by an order of magnitude for a low density of NV centers, which we attribute to a combination of cooperative polaronic effects and scattering by defects. First-principles calculations support the presence of dipolar Fröhlich interaction via non-zero Born effective charges. Our findings provide insights into the physics of color centers in diamonds.

Analysis and 3D TCAD simulations of single-qubit control in an industrially-compatible FD-SOI device

In this study, 3D simulations are introduced to analyze electric-dipole spin resonance (EDSR) for a spin qubit defined in a 28nm-node Ultra-Thin Body and Buried oxide (UTBB) Fully-Depleted Silicon-On-Insulator (FD-SOI) device operated at cryogenic temperatures. The device under consideration is designed to be compatible with STMicroelectronics’ standard fabrication techniques. The simulations predict the experimental and device parameters (e.g. drive amplitude, leakage, and Rabi frequency) required to make EDSR a viable means of qubit control before the device is fabricated. This work highlights how 3D TCAD tools which can simulate quantum-mechanical effects can help steer the design of quantum devices.

Quantum electrodynamics of non-demolition detection of single microwave photon by superconducting qubit array

By consistently applying the formalism of quantum electrodynamics, we developed a comprehensive theoretical framework describing the interaction of single microwave photons with an array of superconducting transmon qubits in a waveguide cavity resonator. In particular, we analyze the effects of microwave photons on the array’s response to a weak probe signal exciting the resonator. The study reveals that high quality factor cavities provide a better spectral resolution of the response, while cavities with moderate quality factors allow better sensitivity for a single-photon detection. Remarkably, our analysis showed that a single-photon signal can be detected by even a sole qubit in a cavity under the realistic range of system parameters. We also discuss how the quantum properties of the microwave radiation and electrodynamical properties of resonators affect the response of qubits’ array. Our results provide an efficient theoretical background for informing the development and design of quantum devices consisting of arrays of qubits, especially for those using a cavity where an explicit expression for the transmission or reflection is required.

Single-photon switching in a Floquet waveguide-QED system with time-modulated coupling constants

The dynamical control of single-photon scattering in a one-dimensional waveguide coupled to a Floquet atom-cavity system with time-modulated coupling constants is investigated. The analytical expressions for determining the scattering properties are obtained by using an effective Floquet Hamiltonian in real space. The photon transport is extremely sensitive to the time-modulated atom-cavity coupling strengths. Two cases, i.e., the effective Floquet Hamiltonian either includes or excludes a static coupling term, are discussed in detail. The results show that, with such Floquet atom-cavity configuration, an active photonic switch with nearly ideal switching contrast could be implemented. The transmission of the waveguide photons with different frequencies can dynamically be switched on or off via adjusting the modulated amplitude or relative modulated phase no matter whether the static coupling between the atom and the two cavity modes is considered or not. The application of the dynamic modulated atom-cavity coupling strengths instead of a purely static one makes our photonic switch more tunable. These results are expected to be applicable in quantum information processing and in active quantum device design involving dynamical modulation.

Asymmetric two-dimensional electromagnetically induced grating controlled by a vortex field

A new theoretical scheme for two-dimensional (2D) electromagnetically induced grating (EIG) is proposed in a three-level Ξ-type atomic system. The system is driven by a weak probe field and two position-dependent coupling fields—a 2D standing-wave field and a vortex field. Due to lopsided spatial modulation of the vortex Laguerre–Gaussian field, the weak probe light could be diffracted into different domains and asymmetric 2D EIG is formed. The result shows that the diffraction patterns and efficiency could be effectively modulated by the azimuthal parameter of the vortex field. Also, the system parameters such as the probe field detuning, the intensity of the vortex field, and the interaction length could be used to regulate the diffraction properties of the 2D EIG effectively. The scheme of asymmetric 2D EIG may have some potential application in all-optical information processing and the design of quantum devices.

Electronic Structure of InAs and InSb Surfaces: Density Functional Theory and Angle‐Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy

AbstractThe electronic structure of surfaces plays a key role in the properties of quantum devices. However, surfaces are also the most challenging to simulate and engineer. Here, the electronic structure of InAs(001), InAs(111), and InSb(110) surfaces is studied using a combination of density functional theory (DFT) and angle‐resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). Large‐scale first principles simulations are enabled by using DFT calculations with a machine‐learned Hubbard U correction [npj Comput. Mater. 6, 180 (2020)]. To facilitate direct comparison with ARPES results, a “bulk unfolding” scheme is implemented by projecting the calculated band structure of a supercell surface slab model onto the bulk primitive cell. For all three surfaces, a good agreement is found between DFT calculations and ARPES. For InAs(001), the simulations clarify the effect of the surface reconstruction. Different reconstructions are found to produce distinctive surface states, which may be detected by ARPES with low photon energies. For InAs(111) and InSb(110), the simulations help elucidate the effect of oxidation. Owing to larger charge transfer from As to O than from Sb to O, oxidation of InAs(111) leads to significant band bending and produces an electron pocket, whereas oxidation of InSb(110) does not. The combined theoretical and experimental results may inform the design of quantum devices based on InAs and InSb semiconductors, for example, topological qubits utilizing the Majorana zero modes.

Advances in space quantum communications

Concerted efforts are underway to establish an infrastructure for a global quantum Internet to realise a spectrum of quantum technologies. This will enable more precise sensors, secure communications, and faster data processing. Quantum communications are a front-runner with quantum networks already implemented in several metropolitan areas. A number of recent proposals have modelled the use of space segments to overcome range limitations of purely terrestrial networks. Rapid progress in the design of quantum devices have enabled their deployment in space for in-orbit demonstrations. We review developments in this emerging area of space-based quantum technologies and provide a roadmap of key milestones towards a complete, global quantum networked landscape. Small satellites hold increasing promise to provide a cost effective coverage required to realise the quantum Internet. The state of art in small satellite missions is reviewed and the most current in-field demonstrations of quantum cryptography are collated. The important challenges in space quantum technologies that must be overcome and recent efforts to mitigate their effects are summarised. A perspective on future developments that would improve the performance of space quantum communications is included. The authors conclude with a discussion on fundamental physics experiments that could take advantage of a global, space-based quantum network.

Quantum computer-aided design of quantum optics hardware

The parameters of a quantum system grow exponentially with the number of involved quantum particles. Hence, the associated memory requirement to store or manipulate the underlying wavefunction goes well beyond the limit of the best classical computers for quantum systems composed of a few dozen particles, leading to serious challenges in their numerical simulation. This implies that the verification and design of new quantum devices and experiments are fundamentally limited to small system size. It is not clear how the full potential of large quantum systems can be exploited. Here, we present the concept of quantum computer designed quantum hardware and apply it to the field of quantum optics. Specifically, we map complex experimental hardware for high-dimensional, many-body entangled photons into a gate-based quantum circuit. We show explicitly how digital quantum simulation of Boson sampling experiments can be realized. We then illustrate how to design quantum-optical setups for complex entangled photonic systems, such as high-dimensional Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger states and their derivatives. Since photonic hardware is already on the edge of quantum supremacy and the development of gate-based quantum computers is rapidly advancing, our approach promises to be a useful tool for the future of quantum device design.

Fano interference and transparency in a waveguide-nanocavity hybrid system with an auxiliary cavity* *Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11774262 and 11975023).

We investigate theoretically single photon transport in one-dimensional waveguide coupled to a pair of cavities, which are denoted by the first cavity and the auxiliary cavity. Two cases with no atom and one atom embedded in the first cavity are discussed. The Fano dips in the transmission spectrum and locations of transparency window are calculated. When no atom is embedded in the first cavity, there exists a transparency window under the condition that the first cavity and the auxiliary cavity are not resonant. The locations of the transparency window and Fano line type depend strongly on the eigen frequency of the auxiliary cavity and the coupling strength between the auxiliary cavity and the waveguide. When one atom is embedded in the first cavity, we show that the transparency window exists even though the first cavity, the atom and the auxiliary cavity are resonant. The Fano line type is strongly dependent on the eigen frequency of the auxiliary cavity and the coupling strength. Our results have potential applications in design of quantum devices at the level of single photon, such as single photon switch and single photon routers.

Enhancing quantum transport efficiency by tuning non-Markovian dephasing

We consider the problem of energy transport in a chain of coupled dissipative quantum systems in the presence of non-Markovian dephasing. We use a model of non-Markovianity which is experimentally realizable in the context of controlled quantum systems. We show that non-Markovian dephasing can significantly enhance quantum transport, and we characterize this phenomenon in terms of internal coupling strengths of the chain for some chain lengths. Finally, we show that the phenomenon of dephasing-assisted quantum transport is also enhanced in the non-Markovian scenario when compared to the Markovian case. Our work brings together engineered environments, which are a reality in quantum technologies, and energy transport, which is typically discussed in terms of complex molecular systems. We then expect that it may motivate experimental work and further theoretical investigations on resources which can enhance transport efficiency in a controllable way. This can help in the design of quantum devices with lower dissipation rates, an important concern in any practical application.

Signatures of quantized coupling between quantum emitters and localized surface plasmons

Confining light to scales beyond the diffraction limit, quantum plasmonics supplies an ideal platform to explore strong light-matter couplings. The light-induced localized surface plasmons (LSPs) on the metal-dielectric interface acting as a quantum bus have wide potential in quantum information processing; however, the loss nature of light in the metal hinders their application. Here we propose a mechanism to make the reversible energy exchange and the multipartite quantum correlation of a collective of quantum emitters (QEs) mediated by the LSPs persistent. Via investigating the quantized interaction between the QEs and the LSPs supported by a spherical metal nanoparticle, we find that the diverse signatures of the quantized QE-LSP coupling in the steady state, including the complete decay, population trapping, and persistent oscillation, are essentially determined by the different number of bound states formed in the energy spectrum of the QE-LSP system. Enriching our understanding on the light-matter interactions in a lossy medium, our result is instructive in the design of quantum devices using plasmonic nanostructures.

Combining neural networks and signed particles to simulate quantum systems more efficiently

Recently a new formulation of quantum mechanics has been suggested which describes systems by means of ensembles of classical particles provided with a sign. This novel approach mainly consists of two steps: the computation of the Wigner kernel, a multi-dimensional function describing the effects of the potential over the system, and the field-less evolution of the particles which eventually create new signed particles in the process. Although this method has proved to be extremely advantageous in terms of computational resources – as a matter of fact it is able to simulate in a time-dependent fashion many-body systems on relatively small machines – the Wigner kernel can represent the bottleneck of simulations of certain systems. Moreover, storing the kernel can be another issue as the amount of memory needed is cursed by the dimensionality of the system. In this work, we introduce a new technique which drastically reduces the computation time and memory requirement to simulate time-dependent quantum systems which is based on the use of an appropriately tailored neural network combined with the signed particle formalism. In particular, the suggested neural network is able to compute efficiently and reliably the Wigner kernel without any training as its entire set of weights and biases is specified by analytical formulas. As a consequence, the amount of memory for quantum simulations radically drops since the kernel does not need to be stored anymore as it is now computed by the neural network itself, only on the cells of the (discretized) phase-space which are occupied by particles. As its is clearly shown in the final part of this paper, not only this novel approach drastically reduces the computational time, it also remains accurate. The author believes this work opens the way towards effective design of quantum devices, with incredible practical implications.

Towards quantum dot and device implementation with InP–GaAs–InP nanostructure

Nanomaterial-based ultra-low-energy device design is one of the prime research areas in nanoscale computation. In ‘more-than-Moore’ technological trends, new device designs with quantum dot nanostructure have become an emerging domain of research. Various quantum dot-based devices, especially quantum dot cellular automata, have been designed both experimentally and by simulation. These quantum devices operate solely on the principle of charge localisation, which accounts for their high speed and ultra-low energy consumption. Quantum dots have an innate ability to confine electrons. As a result, quantum dot formation in a device is highly desirable in order to design quantum devices. Quantum dot implementation with interfacing indium phosphide (InP)–gallium arsenide (GaAs)–indium phosphide nanostructure and quantum dot formation within the redox centres of an allyl molecule are reported in this paper. The formation of the quantum dot is confirmed by the density-of-state studies conducted by the density functional theory calculation on the proposed nanostructures. The possibility of a new device design with two polarised states, namely ‘state x’ and ‘state x −1’, is also explored. Further, outlined in this paper is the design of quantum devices using Python coding, which makes it easier for a programmer to design any kind of complex nanostructure for nanoscale computation.

Extracting the density profile of an electronic wave function in a quantum dot

We use a model of a one-dimensional nanowire quantum dot to demonstrate the feasibility of a scanning probe microscope (SPM) imaging technique that can extract both the energy of an electron state and the amplitude of its wave function using a single instrument. This imaging technique can probe electrons that are buried beneath the surface of a low-dimensional semiconductor structure and provide valuable information for the design of quantum devices. A conducting SPM tip, acting as a movable gate, measures the energy of an electron state using Coulomb blockade spectroscopy. When the tip is close to the nanowire dot, it dents the wave function \ensuremath{\Psi}($x$) of the quantum state, changing the electron's energy by an amount proportional to $|{\ensuremath{\Psi}(x)|}^{2}$. By recording the change in energy as the SPM tip is moved along the length of the dot, the density profile of the electronic wave function can be found along the length of the quantum dot.

ENCORE: An extended contractor renormalization algorithm

Contractor renormalization (CORE) is a real-space renormalization-group method to derive effective Hamiltionians for microscopic models. The original CORE method is based on a real-space decomposition of the lattice into small blocks and the effective degrees of freedom on the lattice are tensor products of those on the small blocks. We present an extension of the CORE method that overcomes this restriction. Our generalization allows the application of CORE to derive arbitrary effective models whose Hilbert space is not just a tensor product of local degrees of freedom. The method is especially well suited to search for microscopic models to emulate low-energy exotic models and can guide the design of quantum devices.

THE GEOMETRICAL EFFECTS ON ELECTRONIC SPECTRUM AND PERSISTENT CURRENTS IN MESOSCOPIC POLYGON

In this paper, a new mesoscopic polygon which possesses smooth transition at its corners is proposed. Because of the particularity of structure, this kind of mesoscopic polygon can also be a geometrical superlattice. The geometrical effects on the electron states and persistent current are investigated comprehensively in the presence of magnetic flux. We find that the particular geometric structure of the polygon induces an effective periodic potential which results in gaps in the energy spectrum. The changes of gaps show the consistency with the geometrical two-ness of this new polygon. This electronic structure and the corresponding physical properties are found to be periodic with period ϕ0 in the magnetic flux ϕ and can be controlled by the geometric method. We also consider the Rahsba spin-orbit interaction which double the energy levels splitting and leads to an additional small zigzag in one period of the persistent current. These new phenomena may be useful for the applications in quantum device design in the future.

Spin and molecular electronics in atomically generated orbital landscapes

Ab initio computational methods for electronic transport in nanoscaled systems are an invaluable tool for the design of quantum devices. We have developed a flexible and efficient algorithm for evaluating I-V characteristics of atomic junctions, which integrates the nonequilibrium Green’s function method with density functional theory. This is currently implemented in the package SMEAGOL. The heart of SMEAGOL is our scheme for constructing the surface Green’s functions describing the current-voltage probes. It consists of a direct summation of both open and closed scattering channels together with a regularization procedure of the Hamiltonian and provides great improvements over standard recursive methods. In particular it allows us to tackle material systems with complicated electronic structures, such as magnetic transition metals. Here we present a detailed description of SMEAGOL together with an extensive range of applications relevant for the two burgeoning fields of spin and molecular electronics.

Randomized Algorithms for Stochastic Approximation under Arbitrary Disturbances

New algorithms for stochastic approximation under input disturbance are designed. For the multidimensional case, they are simple in form, generate consistent estimates for unknown parameters under “almost arbitrary” disturbances, and are easily “incorporated” in the design of quantum devices for estimating the gradient vector of a function of several variables.

Genetically Engineered Nanostructure Devices

AbstractMaterial variations on an atomic scale enable the quantum mechanical functionality of devices such as resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs), quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs), quantum well lasers, and heterostructure field effect transistors (HFETs). The design and optimization of such heterostructure devices requires a detailed understanding of quantum mechanical electron transport. The Nanoelectronic Modeling Tool (NEMO) is a general-purpose quantum device design and analysis tool that addresses this problem. NEMO was combined with a parallelized genetic algorithm package (PGAPACK) to optimize structural and material parameters. The electron transport simulations presented here are based on a full band simulation, including effects of non-parabolic bands in the longitudinal and transverse directions relative to the electron transport and Hartree charge self-consistency. The first result of the genetic algorithm driven quantum transport calculation with convergence of a random structure population to experimental data is presented.