Two electrons in a strongly coupled double quantum dot: from an artificial helium atom to a hydrogen molecule

We present a theoretical study of a four-electron four-quantum-dot system based on molecular orbital methods, which hosts a pair of singlet-triplet spin qubits. We explicitly take into account of the admixture of electron wave functions in all dots, and have found that this mixing of wave functions has consequences on the energy spectrum, exchange interaction and the gate crosstalk of the system. Specifically, we have found that when the two singlet-triplet qubits are close e...

The energy levels of two interacting electrons in a 2D quantum dot confined by a finite Gaussian potential and subjected to a uniform magnetic field perpendicular to the plane of the dot are studied. Analytic results are obtained for the energy spectrum of the two-electron system as well as for a single electron. The magnetic field at which the ground state transitions from the spin-singlet to the spin-triplet state for the two-electron system is calculated and compared with ...

We engineer a system of two strongly confined quantum dots to gain reproducible electrostatic control of the spin at zero magnetic field. Coupling the dots in a tight ring-shaped potential with two tunnel barriers, we demonstrate that an electric field can switch the electron ground state between a singlet and a triplet configuration. Comparing our experimental co-tunneling spectroscopy data to a full many-body treatment of interacting electrons in a double-barrier quantum ri...

We study a two-electron quantum dot molecule in a magnetic field by the direct diagonalization of the Hamiltonian matrix. The ground states of the molecule with the total spin S=0 and S=1 provide a possible realization for a qubit of a quantum computer. Switching between the states is best achieved by changing the magnetic field. Based on an analysis of the wave function, we show that the system consists of composite particles formed by an electron and flux quanta attached to...

We present a study of the electronic structure of two laterally coupled gaussian quantum dots filled with two particles. The exact diagonalization method has been used in order to inspect the spatial correlations and examine the particular spin singlet-triplet configurations for different coupling degrees between quantum dots. The outcome of our research shows this structure to have highly modifiable properties promoting it as an interesting quantum device, showing the possib...

We present excitation energy spectra of few-electron vertically coupled quantum dots for strong and intermediate inter-dot coupling. By applying a magnetic field, we induce ground state transitions and identify the corresponding quantum numbers by comparison with few-body calculations. In addition to atomic-like states, we find novel "molecular-like" phases. The isospin index characterizes the nature of the bond of the artificial molecule and this we control. Like spin in a s...

The many-body state of carriers confined in a quantum dot is controlled by the balance between their kinetic energy and their Coulomb correlation. In coupled quantum dots, both can be tuned by varying the inter-dot tunneling and interactions. Using a theoretical approach based on the diagonalization of the exact Hamiltonian, we show that transitions between different quantum phases can be induced through inter-dot coupling both for a system of few electrons (or holes) and for...

We investigate the ground and excited states of a bipolar artificial molecule composed of two vertically coupled quantum dots containing different type of carriers -- electrons and holes -- in equilibrium. The approach based on exact diagonalization is used and reveals an intricate pattern of ground-state angular momentum switching and a rearrangement of approximate single-particle levels as a function of the inter-dot coupling strength.

Artificial molecular states of double quantum dots defined in bilayer graphene are studied with the atomistic tight-binding and its low-energy continuum approximation. We indicate that the extended electron wave functions have opposite parities on each of the sublattices at both graphene layers and that the ground-state wave function components change from bonding to antibonding with the interdot distance. In the weak coupling limit -- the most relevant for the quantum dots d...

We consider a new quantum gate mechanism based on electron spins in coupled semiconductor quantum dots. Such gates provide a general source of spin entanglement and can be used for quantum computers. We determine the exchange coupling J in the effective Heisenberg model as a function of magnetic (B) and electric fields, and of the inter-dot distance (a) within the Heitler-London approximation of molecular physics. This result is refined by using sp-hybridization, and by the H...