Spin transitions in a small Si quantum dot

The excitation spectrum of a two-electron quantum dot is investigated by tunneling spectroscopy in conjuction with theoretical calculations. The dot made from a material with negligible Zeeman splitting has a moderate spatial anisotropy leading to a splitting of the two lowest triplet states at zero magnetic field. In addition to the well-known triplet excitation at zero magnetic field, two additional excited states are found at finite magnetic field. The lower one is identif...

We study a thermally induced spin flip of an electron spin located in a semiconductor quantum dot. This interesting effect arises from an intriguing interplay between the Zeeman coupling to an external magnetic field and the hyperfine interaction with the surrounding nuclear spins. By considering a minimal model, we explain the main mechanism driving this spin flip and analyze its dependence on the strength of the external magnetic field, the number of nuclear spins and the r...

Electronic states in silicon quantum dots are examined theoretically, taking into account a multivalley structure of the conduction band. We find that (i) exchange interaction hardly works between electrons in different valleys. In consequence electrons occupy the lowest level in different valleys in the absence of Hund's coupling when the dot size is less than 10 nm. High-spin states are easily realized by applying a small magnetic field. (ii) When the dot size is much large...

Single spins in the solid-state offer a unique opportunity to store and manipulate quantum information, and to perform quantum-enhanced sensing of local fields and charges. Optical control of these systems using techniques developed in atomic physics has yet to exploit all the advantages of the solid-state. We demonstrate voltage tunability of the spin energy levels in a single quantum dot by modifying how spins sense magnetic field. We find the in-plane g-factor varies disco...

We have measured the relaxation time, T1, of the spin of a single electron confined in a semiconductor quantum dot (a proposed quantum bit). In a magnetic field, applied parallel to the two-dimensional electron gas in which the quantum dot is defined, Zeeman splitting of the orbital states is directly observed by measurements of electron transport through the dot. By applying short voltage pulses, we can populate the excited spin state with one electron and monitor relaxation...

We have studied spin-flip transitions between Zeeman sublevels in GaAs electron quantum dots. Several different mechanisms which originate from spin-orbit coupling are shown to be responsible for such processes. It is shown that spin-lattice relaxation for the electron localized in a quantum dot is much less effective than for the free electron. The spin-flip rates due to several other mechanisms not related to the spin-orbit interaction are also estimated.

We determine the spin exchange coupling J between two electrons located in two vertically tunnel-coupled quantum dots, and its variation when magnetic (B) and electric (E) fields (both in-plane and perpendicular) are applied. We predict a strong decrease of J as the in-plane B field is increased, mainly due to orbital compression. Combined with the Zeeman splitting, this leads to a singlet-triplet crossing, which can be observed as a pronounced jump in the magnetization at in...

The total spin of correlated electrons in a quantum dot changes with magnetic field and this effect is generally linked to the change in the total angular momentum from one magic number to another, which can be understood in terms of an `electron molecule' picture for strong fields. Here we propose to exploit this fact to realize a spin blockade, i.e., electrons are prohibited to tunnel at specific values of the magnetic field. The spin-blockade regions have been obtained by ...

By measuring electron tunneling between a ferromagnet and individual energy levels in an aluminum quantum dot, we show how spin-resolved quantum states can be used as filters to determine spin-dependent tunneling rates. We also observe magnetic-field-dependent shifts in the magnet's electrochemical potential relative to the dot's energy levels. The shifts vary between samples and are generally smaller than expected from the magnet's spin-polarized density of states. We sugges...

We report the observation of an unusually large number of consecutive spin pairs in a weakly coupled many-electron GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dot. The pairs are identified due to pairwise parallel shifts of Coulomb resonances in a perpendicular magnetic field. Using a nearby quantum point contact for time-resolved charge detection, the tunneling rates are investigated as a function of gate voltage and magnetic field. We compare our experimental data to a single-level transport model...