Ultrafast coherent control of a hole spin qubit in a germanium quantum dot.

Operation speed and coherence time are two core measures for the viability of a qubit. Strong spin-orbit interaction (SOI) and relatively weak hyperfine interaction make holes in germanium (Ge) intriguing candidates for spin qubits with rapid, all-electrical coherent control. Here we report ultrafast single-spin manipulation in a hole-based double quantum dot in a germanium hut wire (GHW). Mediated by the strong SOI, a Rabi frequency exceeding 540 MHz is observed at a magnetic field of 100 mT, setting a record for ultrafast spin qubit control in semiconductor systems. We demonstrate that the strong SOI of heavy holes (HHs) in our GHW, characterized by a very short spin-orbit length of 1.5 nm, enables the rapid gate operations we accomplish. Our results demonstrate the potential of ultrafast coherent control of hole spin qubits to meet the requirement of DiVincenzo's criteria for a scalable quantum information processor.

Giant Anisotropy of Spin Relaxation and Spin-Valley Mixing in a Silicon Quantum Dot.

In silicon quantum dots (QDs), at a certain magnetic field commonly referred to as the "hot spot," the electron spin relaxation rate (T_{1}^{-1}) can be drastically enhanced due to strong spin-valley mixing. Here, we experimentally find that with a valley splitting of 78.2±1.6 µeV, this hot spot in spin relaxation can be suppressed by more than 2 orders of magnitude when the in-plane magnetic field is oriented at an optimal angle, about 9° from the [100] sample plane. This directional anisotropy exhibits a sinusoidal modulation with a 180° periodicity. We explain the magnitude and phase of this modulation using a model that accounts for both spin-valley mixing and intravalley spin-orbit mixing. The generality of this phenomenon is also confirmed by tuning the electric field and the valley splitting up to 268.5±0.7 µeV.

Tunable capacitive coupling between two semiconductor charge qubits.

Strong coupling between two qubits is one of the main requirements for high fidelity two-qubit logic operations. Here we experimentally investigate the capacitive coupling between two double quantum dots. A pair of open slot confinement gates is used to enhance the coupling. We find that the coupling energy J can be conveniently tuned in a broad range. Through numerical simulations, we study the effect of J on two-qubit operations. The analysis shows that our experimentally obtained J is adequate to achieve high fidelity two-qubit entanglement and logic gates.

Tunable Hybrid Qubit in a GaAs Double Quantum Dot.

We experimentally demonstrate a tunable hybrid qubit in a five-electron GaAs double quantum dot. The qubit is encoded in the (1,4) charge regime of the double dot and can be manipulated completely electrically. More importantly, dot anharmonicity leads to quasiparallel energy levels and a new anticrossing, which help preserve quantum coherence of the qubit and yield a useful working point. We have performed Larmor precession and Ramsey fringe experiments near the new working point and find that the qubit decoherence time is significantly improved over a charge qubit. This work shows a new way to encode a semiconductor qubit that is controllable and coherent.

Charge Number Dependence of the Dephasing Rates of a Graphene Double Quantum Dot in a Circuit QED Architecture.

We use an on-chip superconducting resonator as a sensitive meter to probe the properties of graphene double quantum dots at microwave frequencies. Specifically, we investigate the charge dephasing rates in a circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture. The dephasing rates strongly depend on the number of charges in the dots, and the variation has a period of four charges, over an extended range of charge numbers. Although the exact mechanism of this fourfold periodicity in dephasing rates is an open problem, our observations hint at the fourfold degeneracy expected in graphene from its spin and valley degrees of freedom.

Coupling Two Distant Double Quantum Dots with a Microwave Resonator.

We fabricated a hybrid device with two distant graphene double quantum dots (DQDs) and a microwave resonator. A nonlinear response is observed in the resonator reflection amplitude when the two DQDs are jointly tuned to the vicinity of the degeneracy points. This observation can be well fitted by the Tavis-Cummings (T-C) model which describes two two-level systems coupling with one photonic field. Furthermore, the correlation between the DC currents in the two DQDs is studied. A nonzero cross-current correlation is observed which has been theoretically predicted to be an important sign of nonlocal coupling between two distant systems. Our results explore T-C physics in electronic transport and also contribute to the study of nonlocal transport and future implementations of remote electronic entanglement.

[Surveillance of endemic situation of schistosomiasis in a national surveillance site in Honghu City from 2005 to 2013].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the dynamics of schistosomiasis japonica in a national surveillance site in Honghu City, Hubei Province, China, so as to provide the evidence for formulating the intervention strategy of schistosomiasis control in the whole city. METHODS: The surveillance was performed in the surveillance village according to The National Surveillance Scheme of Schistosomiasis Japonica, and the results were analyzed statistically from 2005 to 2013. RESULTS: The schistosome infection rates in residents and cattle decreased from 1.76% and 20.93% in 2005 to 0 in 2013, respectively. The density of living Oncomelania snails decreased from 4.20/0.1m2 to 0.17/0.1m2, respectively. No infected snails were found during the period of 9 years in succession. The total area of snail control with molluscicidal drugs was 68.38 hm2 in the monitoring sites during the period of 9 years, and the expanded chemotherapy was performed for 634 person-times. Sixteen (person-time) advanced schistosomiasis patients received the treatment and salvation. The health education was carried out in 3 836 (person-times) students. Totally 5 685 leaflets of health education were distributed, and 17 bulletin boards of health education were performed. Five warning boards were set up at the environments with snails. CONCLUSIONS: The transmission of schistosomiasis in the surveillance site in Honghu City shows a gradually decreasing trend year by year. However, the surveillance and control of snails still should be strengthened.

Conditional rotation of two strongly coupled semiconductor charge qubits.

Universal multiple-qubit gates can be implemented by a set of universal single-qubit gates and any one kind of entangling two-qubit gate, such as a controlled-NOT gate. For semiconductor quantum dot qubits, two-qubit gate operations have so far only been demonstrated in individual electron spin-based quantum dot systems. Here we demonstrate the conditional rotation of two capacitively coupled charge qubits, each consisting of an electron confined in a GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum dot. Owing to the strong inter-qubit coupling strength, gate operations with a clock speed up to 6 GHz have been realized. A truth table measurement for controlled-NOT operation shows comparable fidelities to that of spin-based two-qubit gates, although phase coherence is not explicitly measured. Our results suggest that semiconductor charge qubits have a considerable potential for scalable quantum computing and may stimulate the use of long-range Coulomb interaction for coherent quantum control in other devices.

Suspending effect on low-frequency charge noise in graphene quantum dot.

Charge noise is critical in the performance of gate-controlled quantum dots (QDs). Such information is not yet available for QDs made out of the new material graphene, where both substrate and edge states are known to have important effects. Here we show the 1/f noise for a microscopic graphene QD is substantially larger than that for a macroscopic graphene field-effect transistor (FET), increasing linearly with temperature. To understand its origin, we suspended the graphene QD above the substrate. In contrast to large area graphene FETs, we find that a suspended graphene QD has an almost-identical noise level as an unsuspended one. Tracking noise levels around the Coulomb blockade peak as a function of gate voltage yields potential fluctuations of order 1 µeV, almost one order larger than in GaAs/GaAlAs QDs. Edge states and surface impurities rather than substrate-induced disorders, appear to dominate the 1/f noise, thus affecting the coherency of graphene nano-devices.

Tuning inter-dot tunnel coupling of an etched graphene double quantum dot by adjacent metal gates.

Graphene double quantum dots (DQDs) open to use charge or spin degrees of freedom for storing and manipulating quantum information in this new electronic material. However, impurities and edge disorders in etched graphene nano-structures hinder the ability to control the inter-dot tunnel coupling, tC, the most important property of the artificial molecule. Here we report measurements of tC in an all-metal-side-gated graphene DQD. We find that tC can be controlled continuously about a factor of four by employing a single gate. Furthermore, tC, can be changed monotonically about another factor of four as electrons are gate-pumped into the dot one by one. The results suggest that the strength of tunnel coupling in etched graphene DQDs can be varied in a rather broad range and in a controllable manner, which improves the outlook to use graphene as a base material for qubit applications.

Ultrafast universal quantum control of a quantum-dot charge qubit using Landau-Zener-Stückelberg interference.

A basic requirement for quantum information processing is the ability to universally control the state of a single qubit on timescales much shorter than the coherence time. Although ultrafast optical control of a single spin has been achieved in quantum dots, scaling up such methods remains a challenge. Here we demonstrate complete control of the quantum-dot charge qubit on the picosecond scale [corrected], orders of magnitude faster than the previously measured electrically controlled charge- or spin-based qubits. We observe tunable qubit dynamics in a charge-stability diagram, in a time domain, and in a pulse amplitude space of the driven pulse. The observations are well described by Landau-Zener-Stückelberg interference. These results establish the feasibility of a full set of all-electrical single-qubit operations. Although our experiment is carried out in a solid-state architecture, the technique is independent of the physical encoding of the quantum information and has the potential for wider applications.

Phase diagram of a quantum Hall pseudospin ferromagnet in a two-subband electron system.

We employ the self-consistent local density approximation and the microscopic Hartree-Fock theory to investigate the quantum Hall pseudospin ferromagnets at the Landau levels degenerate regime of a single quantum well with two-subbands filled. We carry out a detailed calculation of the pseudospin anisotropy energy using real experimental parameters and obtain the phase diagrams that would be accessed experimentally by changing the electron density and the bias voltage. We find that an easy-plane and easy-axis quantum Hall pseudospin ferromagnet can form at total filling factors ν = 3 and ν = 4, respectively, which are consistent with experimental observation. Our study provides some insight into the symmetry of the ground state and may help in understanding the underlying mechanism.