Quantum Dot Circuit Research Articles

Engineering quantum criticality for quantum dot power harvesting

Abstract Coupling quantum-dot circuits to microwave photons allows one to study the photon-assisted quantum transport. Here, we revisit this typical circuit quantum electrodynamical setup by introducing the Kerr nonlinearity of photons. By exploiting a quantum critical behavior, we propose a powerful scheme to control the power harvesting efficiency in the microwave regime, where the driven-dissipative optical system acts as an energy pump. It drives electron transport against a load in quantum-dot circuit. The energy transfer and consequently the harvesting efficiency is enhanced near the critical point. As the critical point moves towards to low input power, the high efficiency within experimental parameters is achieved. Our results complement fundamental studies of photon-to-electron conversion at the nanoscale, and provide practical guidance for the design of integrated photoelectric device by the quantum criticality.

Electrically driven photon statistics engineering in quantum-dot circuit quantum electrodynamics

Quantum-dot circuit quantum electrodynamics (QD-cQED) has enabled the probe and control of light-matter interaction at the elementary level, with the demonstration of nonclassical photon sources driven by inelastic electron tunneling. Due to the absence of the photon blockade mechanism, an general scheme for photon statistics engineering in QD-cQED is lacking. Based on current-driven joint interference effect, the authors propose here an all-electrical scheme to achieve arbitrary photon statistics with classical or quantum correlation by simply controlling bias voltage.

Multiterminal open quantum dot circuit operating in the fractional quantum Hall regime

We study theoretically a large quantum dot in the fractional quantum Hall regime that is strongly coupled to $\mathcal{M}$ leads via single-mode quantum point contacts. In the case $\mathcal{M}=2$, when the system is mapped onto the two-channel charge Kondo problem, we predict a universal expression for the conductance in the vicinity of a strong-coupling fixed point. The power of the leading temperature correction to the maximal conductance is determined by the fractional filling factor $\ensuremath{\nu}=1/m$. For $\mathcal{M}>2$, we examine the case in which $\mathcal{M}\ensuremath{-}1$ quantum point contacts are fully open, reproducing a single-channel circuit coupled to a dissipative Ohmic environment. The system is treated as a Luttinger liquid with an impurity, whose effective interaction parameter is defined as $K=\ensuremath{\nu}(\mathcal{M}\ensuremath{-}1)/\mathcal{M}$. Conductance scaling in the weak and strong tunnel regimes is used to discuss the low-temperature transport behavior of multichannel single- and double-charge Kondo devices.

Electron g-factor determined for quantum dot circuit fabricated from (110)-oriented GaAs quantum well

The choice of substrate orientation for semiconductor quantum dot circuits offers opportunities for tailoring spintronic properties such as g-factors for specific functionality. Here, we demonstrate the operation of a few-electron double quantum dot circuit fabricated from a (110)-oriented GaAs quantum well. We estimate the in-plane electron g-factor from the profile of the enhanced inter-dot tunneling (leakage) current near-zero magnetic field. Spin blockade due to Pauli exclusion can block inter-dot tunneling. However, this blockade becomes inactive due to hyperfine interaction mediated spin flip-flop processes between electron spin states and the nuclear spin of the host material. The g-factor of absolute value ∼0.1 found for a magnetic field parallel to the direction [1¯10] is approximately a factor of four lower than that for comparable circuits fabricated from a material grown on widely employed standard (001) GaAs substrates and is in line with reported values determined by purely optical means for quantum well structures grown on (110) GaAs substrates.

(Invited) Visualizing 2D Materials at the Atomic Scale

Understanding and controlling the properties of 2D materials to our advantage can be contemplated with the development of experimental tools to probe and manipulate electrons and their interactions at the atomic scale. In this talk, I will present scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy experiments aimed at: elucidating the nature of atomic-scale defects in 2D materials, visualizing moiré patterns between crystals with different symmetries and imaging surface and edge states in a magnetic topological system. Moreover, I will discuss how we leverage our expertise in probing and engineering electronic states at surfaces of 2D materials to further the development of graphene-based gas sensors and gated quantum dot circuits based on 2D semiconductors. Figure 1

Microwave quantum optics as a direct probe of the Overhauser field in a quantum dot circuit quantum electrodynamics device

We show theoretically that a quantum-dot circuit quantum electrodynamics (CQED) device can be used as a probe of the Overhauser field in quantum dots. By coupling a transmission line to the interdot tunneling gate, an electromagnetically-induced-transparency (EIT) scheme can be established, whose Fano-type interference leads to a sharp curvature in the reflection spectrum around resonance. This sharp feature persists even in the presence of the fluctuating spin bath, rendering a high-resolution method to extract the bath's statistical information. For strong nuclear spin fields, the reflection spectrum exhibits an Autler-Townes splitting, where the peak locations indicate the strengths of the Overhauser field gradient (OFG).

Nanoassembly technique of carbon nanotubes for hybrid circuit-QED

A complex quantum dot circuit based on a clean and suspended carbon nanotube embedded in a circuit quantum electrodynamic (cQED) architecture is a very attractive platform to investigate a large spectrum of physics phenomena ranging from qubit physics to nanomechanics. We demonstrate a carbon nanotube transfer process allowing us to integrate clean carbon nanotubes into complex quantum dot circuits inside a cQED platform. This technique is compatible with various contacting materials such as superconductors or ferromagnets. This makes it suitable for hybrid quantum devices. Our results are based on eight different devices demonstrating the robustness of this technique.

Light Amplification without Inversion from Hybrid Quantum Dot–Resonator Circuit: Floquet Nonequilibrium Green's Function Approach

Herein, a new mechanism of steady‐state light amplification without inversion from a hybrid quantum dot circuit coupled to a single mode of electromagnetic resonator is theoretically investigated. Hybrid quantum dot circuit consists of a single‐level quantum dot which is connected weakly to one normal metal electrode and strongly to one superconducting electrode. Using the Floquet nonequilibrium Green's function technique, it is shown that the gain originates from the Andreev reflection processes at proper gate voltages when the bias voltage exceeds a certain threshold. Also, it is found that the inversionless light amplification is mediated by spin transitions between Andreev and Floquet–Andreev bound states in the superconducting energy gap.

Erratum: Statistics of heat transport across a capacitively coupled double quantum dot circuit [Phys. Rev. B 99 , 195449 (2019)

Erratum: Statistics of heat transport across a capacitively coupled double quantum dot circuit [Phys. Rev. B <b>99</b> , 195449 (2019)

Microwave Photon Detectors Based on Semiconducting Double Quantum Dots.

Detectors of microwave photons find applications in different fields ranging from security to cosmology. Due to the intrinsic difficulties related to the detection of vanishingly small energy quanta , significant portions of the microwave electromagnetic spectrum are still uncovered by suitable techniques. No prevailing technology has clearly emerged yet, although different solutions have been tested in different contexts. Here, we focus on semiconductor quantum dots, which feature wide tunability by external gate voltages and scalability for large architectures. We discuss possible pathways for the development of microwave photon detectors based on photon-assisted tunneling in semiconducting double quantum dot circuits. In particular, we consider implementations based on either broadband transmission lines or resonant cavities, and we discuss how developments in charge sensing techniques and hybrid architectures may be beneficial for the development of efficient photon detectors in the microwave range.

Changes of orbital electron correlations due to the coupling between quantum dots and Majorana zero modes

We present a detailed analysis about the changes of the orbital electron-correlation effects in one quantum-dot circuit, by considering finite couplings between the quantum dots and Majorana zero modes (MZMs). It is found that the dot-MZM couplings complicate the orbital-Kondo effect, because the orbital correlation occurs between the localized states in the quantum dots and the continuum hybridized states induced by the indirect metal-MZM couplings. When two of such correlation exist in pair, they have an opportunity to induce a long-range RKKY correlation, which is related to the MZMs. Further investigation shows that this RKKY interaction leads to the anomalous fractional Josephson effect. Our work can be helpful in clarifying the influence of MZM on the orbital electron correlation effects.

Photon statistics of a double quantum dot micromaser: Quantum treatment

A semiconductor single-atom micromaser consists of a microwave cavity coupled to a gain medium, a double quantum dot driven out of equilibrium by a bias voltage. The masing threshold of this system was recently probed by measuring photon statistics in the cavity [Y-Y. Liu \textit{et al}, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 097702 (2017)]. In this paper, we develop an in-depth, rigorous understanding of this experiment and related works. First, we use a semiclassical theory and study transmission spectroscopy. This approach allows us to derive the masing threshold condition for arbitrary temperature and voltage bias, and expose microscopic principles required for realizing photon gain and thereby a photon amplifier. Next, by employing the quantum master equation approach we extend the Scully-Lamb quantum theory of a laser to the present setup, and investigate the statistics of emitted photons below and above the masing threshold as a function of experimentally tunable parameters. Although our focus is primarily on hybrid quantum dot circuit - quantum electrodynamics systems, our approach is adaptable to other light-matter systems where the gain medium consists of a mesoscopic structure.

Statistics of heat transport across a capacitively coupled double quantum dot circuit

We study heat current and the full statistics of heat fluctuations in a capacitively-coupled double quantum dot system. This work is motivated by recent theoretical studies and experimental works on heat currents in quantum dot circuits. As expected intuitively, within the (static) mean-field approximation, the system at steady-state decouples into two single-dot equilibrium systems with renormalized dot energies, leading to zero average heat flux and fluctuations. This reveals that dynamic correlations induced between electrons on the dots is solely responsible for the heat transport between the two reservoirs. To study heat current fluctuations, we compute steady-state cumulant generating function for heat exchanged between reservoirs using two approaches : Lindblad quantum master equation approach, which is valid for arbitrary coulomb interaction strength but weak system-reservoir coupling strength, and the saddle point approximation for Schwinger-Keldysh coherent state path integral, which is valid for arbitrary system-reservoir coupling strength but weak coulomb interaction strength. Using thus obtained generating functions, we verify steady-state fluctuation theorem for stochastic heat flux and study the average heat current and its fluctuations. We find that the heat current and its fluctuations change non-monotonically with the coulomb interaction strength ($U$) and system-reservoir coupling strength ($\Gamma$) and are suppressed for large values of $U$ and $\Gamma$.

Circuit QED with a quantum-dot charge qubit dressed by Cooper pairs

Circuit quantum electrodynamics allows one to probe, manipulate and couple superconducting quantum bits using cavity photons at an exquisite level. One of its cornerstones is the possibility to achieve the strong coupling which allows one to hybridize coherently light and matter. Its transposition to quantum dot circuits could offer the opportunity to use new degrees of freedom such as individual charge or spin. However, the strong coupling of quantum dot circuits to cavity photons remains to be observed. Here, we demonstrate a hybrid superconductor-quantum dot circuit which realizes the strong coupling of an individual electronic excitation to microwave photons. We observe a vacuum Rabi splitting 2g~10 MHz which exceeds by a factor of 3 the linewidth of the hybridized light-matter states. Our findings open the path to ultra-long distance entanglement of quantum dot based qubits. They could be adapted to many other circuit designs, shedding new light on the roadmap for scalability of quantum dot setups.

SiQAD: A Design and Simulation Tool for Atomic Silicon Quantum Dot Circuits

This paper introduces SiQAD, a computer-aided design tool enabling the rapid design and simulation of atomic silicon dangling bond quantum dot patterns capable of computational logic. Several simulation tools are included, each able to inform the designer on various aspects of their designs: a ground-state electron configuration finder, a non-equilibrium electron dynamics simulator, and an electric potential landscape solver with clocking electrode support. Simulations have been compared against past experimental results to inform the electron population estimation and dynamic behavior. New logic gates suitable for this platform have been designed and simulated, and a clocked wire has been demonstrated. This work paves the way for the exploration of the vast and fertile design space of atomic silicon dangling bond quantum dot circuits.

Cooling by heating in nonequilibrium nanosystems

We demonstrate the possiblity to cool nanoelectronic systems in nonequilibrium situations by increasing the temperature of the environment. Such cooling by heating is possible for a variety of experimental conditions where the relevant transport-induced excitation processes become quenched and deexcitation processes are enhanced upon an increase of temperature. The phenomenon turns out to be robust with respect to all relevant parameters. It is especially pronounced for higher bias voltages and weak to moderate coupling. Our findings have implications for open quantum systems in general, where electron transport is coupled to mechanical (phononic) or photonic degrees of freedom. In particular, molecular junctions with rigid tunneling pathways or quantum dot circuit QED systems meet the required conditions.

Scaling laws of the Kondo problem at finite frequency

Driving a quantum system at finite frequency allows one to explore its dynamics. This has become a well mastered resource for controlling the quantum state of two level systems in the context of quantum information processing. However, this can also be of fundamental interest, especially with many-body systems which display an intricate finite frequency behavior. In condensed matter, the Kondo effect epitomizes strong electronic correlations, but the study of its dynamics and the related scaling laws has remained elusive so far. Here, we fill this gap by studying a carbon nanotube based Kondo quantum dot driven by a microwave signal. Our findings not only confirm long-standing theoretical predictions, but also allow us to establish a simple ansatz for the scaling laws on the Kondo problem at finite frequency. More generally, our technique opens a new path for understanding the dynamics of complex quantum dot circuits in the context of quantum simulation of strongly correlated electron fluids.

Observation of the frozen charge of a Kondo resonance.

The ability to control electronic states at the nanoscale has contributed to our modern understanding of condensed matter. In particular, quantum dot circuits represent model systems for the study of strong electronic correlations, epitomized by the Kondo effect. We use circuit quantum electrodynamics architectures to study the internal degrees of freedom of this many-body phenomenon. Specifically, we couple a quantum dot to a high-quality-factor microwave cavity to measure with exceptional sensitivity the dot's electronic compressibility, that is, its ability to accommodate charges. Because electronic compressibility corresponds solely to the charge response of the electronic system, it is not equivalent to the conductance, which generally involves other degrees of freedom such as spin. Here, by performing dual conductance and compressibility measurements in the Kondo regime, we uncover directly the charge dynamics of this peculiar mechanism of electron transfer. The Kondo resonance, visible in transport measurements, is found to be 'transparent' to microwave photons trapped in the high-quality cavity, thereby revealing that (in such a many-body resonance) finite conduction is achieved from a charge frozen by Coulomb interaction. This freezing of charge dynamics is in contrast to the physics of a free electron gas. We anticipate that the tools of cavity quantum electrodynamics could be used in other types of mesoscopic circuits with many-body correlations, providing a model system in which to perform quantum simulation of fermion-boson problems.

Multi-Layer Defect Characterization in Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata Circuits

Multi-Layer Defect Characterization in Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata Circuits

Giant photon gain in large-scale quantum dot-circuit QED systems

Motivated by recent experiments on the generation of coherent light in engineered hybrid quantum systems, we investigate gain in a microwave photonic cavity coupled to quantum dot structures, and develop concrete directions for achieving a giant amplification in photon transmission. We propose two architectures for scaling up the electronic gain medium: (i) $N$ double quantum dot systems (N-DQD), (ii) $M$ quantum dots arranged in series akin to a quantum cascade laser setup. In both setups, the fermionic reservoirs are voltage biased, and the quantum dots are coupled to a single-mode cavity. Optical amplification is explained based on a sum rule for the transmission function, and it is determined by an intricate competition between two different processes: charge density response in the gain medium, and cavity losses to input and output ports. The same design principle is also responsible for the corresponding giant amplification in other photonic observables, mean photon number and emission spectrum, thereby realizing a quantum device that behaves as a giant microwave amplifier.