Optical Pumping of a Single Electron Spin Bound to a Fluorine Donor in a ZnSe Nanostructure

Abstract

Here we demonstrate optical pumping of a single electron within a semiconductor nanostructure comprised of a single fluorine donor located within a ZnSe/ZnMgSe quantum well. Experiments were performed to detect optical pumping behavior by observing single photons emitted from the nanostructure when the electron changes spin state. These results demonstrate initialization and read-out of the electron spin qubit and open the door for coherent optical manipulation of a spin by taking advantage of an unconventional nanostructure.

Discretization of the total magnetic field by the nuclear spin bath in fluorine-doped ZnSe

“…The splitting of the D 0 X state is defined solely by the hole spin. Due to confinement and strain in the structure, only the low energy HH states with spin ±3/2 are considered 18 , 19 . The schematic in Fig.…”

Spectroscopy of single Pr3+ ion in LaF3 crystal at 1.5 K

“…In this context, extensive studies have been conducted on systems such as defect centers in diamonds12, quantum dots3, and impurity atoms in semiconductors4. The nuclear spin of rare-earth (RE) ions doped in an inorganic crystal is also a suitable system for quantum-information processing5.…”

Temperature dependence of the spin relaxation time of donor-bound electrons immersed in a CdTe quantum well

“…This system emerged some years ago as a good prototype for spintronic applications, since experimental studies revealed that the localization of the electron wave function leads to an enhancement of the spin relaxation time. Besides, they present a higher degree of optical orientation of the electron spins than in three-dimensional crystals, and the integration of impurities does not lead to large inhomogeneities [25][26][27][28]. We have adapted the formalism used in Ref.…”