Single-electron Shuttling Research Articles

Conveyor-mode single-electron shuttling in Si/SiGe for a scalable quantum computing architecture

Small spin-qubit registers defined by single electrons confined in Si/SiGe quantum dots operate successfully and connecting these would permit scalable quantum computation. Shuttling the qubit carrying electrons between registers is a natural choice for high-fidelity coherent links provided the overhead of control signals stays moderate. Our proof-of-principle demonstrates shuttling of a single electron by a propagating wave-potential in an electrostatically defined 420 nm long Si/SiGe quantum-channel. This conveyor-mode shuttling approach requires independent from its length only four sinusoidal control signals. We discuss the tuning of the signal parameters, detect the smoothness of the electron motion enabling the mapping of potential disorder and observe a high single-electron shuttling fidelity of 99.42 ± 0.02% including a reversal of direction. Our shuttling device can be readily embedded in industrial fabrication of Si/SiGe qubit chips and paves the way to solving the signal-fanout problem for a fully scalable semiconductor quantum-computing architecture.

Dynamic tunneling force microscopy for characterizing electronic trap states in non-conductive surfaces.

Dynamic tunneling force microscopy (DTFM) is a scanning probe technique for real space mapping and characterization of individual electronic trap states in non-conductive films with atomic scale spatial resolution. The method is based upon the quantum mechanical tunneling of a single electron back and forth between a metallic atomic force microscopy tip and individual trap states in completely non-conducting surface. This single electron shuttling is measured by detecting the electrostatic force induced on the probe tip at the shuttling frequency. In this paper, the physical basis for the DTFM method is unfolded through a physical model and a derivation of the dynamic tunneling signal as a function of several experimental parameters is shown. Experimental data are compared with the theoretical simulations, showing quantitative consistency and verifying the physical model used. The experimental system is described and representative imaging results are shown.

Magnetically controlled single-electron shuttle

A theory of single-electron shuttling in an external magnetic field in nanoelectromechanical system with magnetic leads is presented. We consider partially spin-polarized electrons in the leads and electron transport in both the Coulomb blockade regime and in the limit of large bias voltages when the Coulomb blockade is lifted. The influence of the degree of spin polarization on shuttle instability is considered. It is shown that there is certain degree of spin polarization above which the magnetic field ceases to control electron transport. In the Coulomb blockade regime the dependence of the threshold magnetic field, which separates the “shuttle” and vibron regimes, on the degree of polarization is evaluated. The possibility of re-entrant transitions to the shuttle phase is discussed.

Electronic spin working mechanically (Review Article)

A single-electron tunneling (SET) device with a nanoscale central island that can move with respect to the bulk source- and drain electrodes allows for a nanoelectromechanical (NEM) coupling between the electrical current through the device and mechanical vibrations of the island. Although an electromechanical “shuttle” instability and the associated phenomenon of single-electron shuttling were predicted more than 15 years ago, both theoretical and experimental studies of NEM-SET structures are still carried out. New functionalities based on quantum coherence, Coulomb correlations and coherent electron-spin dynamics are of particular current interest. In this article we present a short review of recent activities in this area.

Nanoelectromechanics of shuttle devices

A single-electron tunneling (SET) device with a nanoscale central island that can move with respect to the bulk sourceand drain electrodes allows for a nanoelectromechanical (NEM) coupling between the electrical current through the device and the mechanical vibrations of the island. Although the electromechanical “shuttle” instability and the associated phenomenon of single-electron shuttling were predicted more than 15 years ago, both theoretical and experimental studies of NEM-SET structures are still carried out. New functionalities based on quantum coherence, Coulomb correlations and coherent electron-spin dynamics are still of particular interest. In this article we present a short review of recent activities in this area.

Cotunneling mechanism of single-electron shuttling

The problem of electron transport by means of a dumbbell shaped shuttle in strong Coulomb blockade regime is solved. The electrons may be shuttled only in the cotunneling regime during the time spans when both shoulders of the shuttle approach the metallic banks. The conventional Anderson-like tunneling model is generalized for this case and the tunneling conductance is calculated in the adiabatic regime of slow motion of the shuttle. Non-adiabatic corrections are briefly discussed

Single-electron shuttle based on a silicon quantum dot

We report on single-electron shuttling experiments with a silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor quantum dot at 300 mK. Our system consists of an accumulated electron layer at the Si/SiO2 interface below an aluminum top gate with two additional barrier gates used to deplete the electron gas locally and to define a quantum dot. Directional single-electron shuttling from the source to the drain lead is achieved by applying a dc source-drain bias while driving the barrier gates with an ac voltage of frequency fp. Current plateaus at integer levels of efp are observed up to fp=240 MHz operation frequencies. The observed results are explained by a sequential tunneling model, which suggests that the electron gas may be heated substantially by the ac driving voltage.

External field control of donor electron exchange at theSi∕SiO2interface

We analyze several important issues for the single- and two-qubit operations in Si quantum computer architectures involving P donors close to a SiO2 interface. For a single donor, we investigate the donor-bound electron manipulation (i.e. 1-qubit operation) between the donor and the interface by electric and magnetic fields. We establish conditions to keep a donor-bound state at the interface in the absence of local surface gates, and estimate the maximum planar density of donors allowed to avoid the formation of a 2-dimensional electron gas at the interface. We also calculate the times involved in single electron shuttling between the donor and the interface. For a donor pair, we find that under certain conditions the exchange coupling (i.e. 2-qubit operation) between the respective electron pair at the interface may be of the same order of magnitude as the coupling in GaAs-based two-electron double quantum dots where coherent spin manipulation and control has been recently demonstrated (for example for donors ~10 nm below the interface and \~40 nm apart, J~10^{-4} meV), opening the perspective for similar experiments to be performed in Si.

Spin-detection in a quantum electromechanical shuttle system

We study the electrical transport of a harmonically bound, single-molecule C60 shuttle operating in the Coulomb blockade regime, i.e. single electron shuttling. In particular, we examine the dependance of the tunnel current on an ultra-small stationary force exerted on the shuttle. As an example, we consider the force exerted on an endohedral N@C60 by the magnetic field gradient generated by a nearby nanomagnet. We derive a Hamiltonian for the full shuttle system which includes the metallic contacts, the spatially dependent tunnel couplings to the shuttle, the electronic and motional degrees of freedom of the shuttle itself and a coupling of the shuttle's motion to a phonon bath. We analyse the resulting quantum master equation and find that, due to the exponential dependence of the tunnel probability on the shuttle-contact separation, the current is highly sensitive to very small forces. In particular, we predict that the spin state of the endohedral electrons of N@C60 in a large magnetic gradient field can be distinguished from the resulting current signals within a few tens of nanoseconds. This effect could prove useful for the detection of the endohedral spin-state of individual paramagnetic molecules such as N@C60 and P@C60, or the detection of very small static forces acting on a C60 shuttle.