Nuclear Nanomagnets for Quantum Optical Spin Devices

用于量子光学自旋器件的核纳米磁体

基本信息

批准号：
EP/G004366/1
负责人：
Ruth Oulton
金额：
$ 97.15万
依托单位：
University of Bristol
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Fellowship
财政年份：
2008
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2008 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FG004366%2F1
关键词：
Nuclear Nanomagnets Quantum Optical Spin

项目摘要

Nuclear Nanomagnets for Quantum ComputingInformation technology today involves manipulating and transporting small collections of charges through a system of small wires and semiconductor transistors. Making faster and cheaper computers means making these components smaller - in fact their size is halving every two years, and soon we will reach the limit where transistors are the same size as the atoms themselves! Electrons can be thought of as being like a particle or like a wave, and it is the size of the electron wave that determines its behaviour in such small components. Quantum mechanics, the physics that describes such small systems, predicts that electrons in such small components will have totally different properties, and we will have to design our components in a completely new way.Understanding how to deal with the quantum behaviour of electrons presents us with the opportunity to make a new type of computer. Researchers have shown that a quantum computer is theoretically possible by making use of the purely quantum nature of electrons and light. These quantum computers are still in their very early stages, but one day they will perform calculations that will never be possible with conventional computers. My intended research will involve investigating a new type of architecture for a quantum computer. In a quantum computer, information must be stored and transmitted in a reliable way. I will show that it is possible to store information by putting a single electron into a quantum dot . This is a type of nanoscale semiconductor that can store a single electron, and prevent it from interacting or colliding with other electrons and losing its information. It turns out that the best way to store information in the electron is to encode it into its spin . Spin is the intrinsic magnet of an electron. We can change its direction from up to down , in the same way that bits in a computer have the value 0 or 1 .Electron spin is a very good way to store information in quantum dots, but in fact we cannot store the electron spin forever. The problem is that the electron sits inside a semiconductor, which consists of a lattice of atomic nuclei. Each of these nuclei also has its own intrinsic spin, which the electron feels. The magnetic field from each nucleus is very weak, but eventually the electron spin will change due to these nuclei. In my work, on the other hand, I am going to make use of the nuclei. Generally, the nuclear spins point in all directions, but it is also possible to use the electron to redirect all the nuclei to point in the same direction. There are about 10000 nuclei inside our quantum dot, so aligning them all means that the magnetic field felt by the electron is now very large. The nuclei now have a positive effect on the electron spin. Everything is aligned in the same direction and the electron spin may be stored for extremely long times.Solving the problem of how to store electron spins is no good, however, if we are not able to read out and transport its state to another electron spin to perform a calculation. Fortunately, electrons in quantum dots are able to absorb and emit light, and when they do this they also give the information about their spin to a single photon (a particle of light) which we are able to detect. The only problem is that waiting for the electron to produce a photon takes a long time. To make electrons absorb and emit photons faster, we put them into photonic structures that control how the photons interact with the electrons. In my work I will design photonic structures and techniques that are not only so effective that I will be able to either make a very strong nanomagnet, but also so sensitive that I will detect just a single nucleus. This work will help us to understand not only how to make quantum computers using semiconductors, but will tell us a great deal about how to make these basic interactions work in other systems as well.

当今用于量子计算信息技术的核纳米磁铁涉及通过小线和半导体晶体管系统操纵和运输少量电荷。制造更快，更便宜的计算机意味着使这些组件较小 - 实际上它们的尺寸每两年减半，很快我们将达到晶体管大小与原子本身相同的极限！可以将电子视为像粒子或波浪一样，而电子波的大小决定了其在如此小的成分中的行为。描述如此小系统的物理学量子力学预测，如此小的组件中的电子将具有完全不同的属性，我们将不得不以一种全新的方式设计组件。理解如何处理电子的量子行为使我们有机会制作新型计算机。研究人员表明，通过利用电子和光的纯量子性质，从理论上讲是一种量子计算机。这些量子计算机仍处于很早的阶段，但是有一天它们将执行传统计算机永远无法实现的计算。我的预期研究将涉及研究量子计算机的新型体系结构。在量子计算机中，必须以可靠的方式存储和传输信息。我将证明可以通过将单个电子放入量子点来存储信息。这是一种可以存储单个电子的纳米级半导体，并防止其与其他电子相互作用或碰撞并丢失其信息。事实证明，将信息存储在电子中的最佳方法是将其编码为旋转。自旋是电子的固有磁铁。我们可以将其方向从上到向下，就像计算机中的位具有0或1的位置一样。电子旋转是将信息存储在量子点中的一个很好的方法，但实际上我们不能永远存储电子旋转。问题在于，电子位于半导体内，由原子核晶格组成。这些核中的每一个都有自己的内在旋转，电子感觉。来自每个核的磁场非常弱，但是由于这些核，电子自旋最终会改变。另一方面，在我的工作中，我将利用核。通常，核旋转指向所有方向，但也可以使用电子将所有核重定向到同一方向。我们的量子点内大约有10000个核，因此将它们对齐都意味着电子感受到的磁场现在非常大。现在，核对电子自旋有积极影响。一切都朝着相同的方向排列，并且电子自旋可能很长时间存储。解决如何存储电子旋转的问题是不好的，但是，如果我们无法读出并将其状态运输到另一个电子旋转以执行计算。幸运的是，量子点中的电子能够吸收并发出光，当它们这样做时，它们还将有关其旋转的信息提供给我们能够检测到的单个光子（一种光粒子）。唯一的问题是等待电子产生光子需要很长时间。为了使电子吸收并更快地发射光子，我们将它们放入光子结构中，以控制光子如何与电子相互作用。在我的工作中，我将设计光子结构和技术，不仅如此有效，以至于我将能够制作出非常强大的纳米磁体，而且还非常敏感，以至于我只能检测到一个单个核。这项工作将帮助我们不仅了解如何使用半导体制造量子计算机，而且还将告诉我们有关如何使这些基本互动在其他系统中起作用的大量信息。

项目成果

期刊论文数量（10）

专著数量（0）

科研奖励数量（0）

会议论文数量（0）

专利数量（0）

Optimised photonic crystal waveguide for chiral light-matter interactions

DOI：
10.1088/2040-8986/aa5f5f
发表时间：
2017-04-01
期刊：
JOURNAL OF OPTICS
影响因子：
2.1
作者：
Lang, Ben;Oulton, Ruth;Beggs, Daryl M.
通讯作者：
Beggs, Daryl M.

Efficient out-coupling and beaming of Tamm optical states via surface plasmon polariton excitation

DOI：
10.1063/1.4882180
发表时间：
2014-06
期刊：
Applied Physics Letters
影响因子：
4
作者：
M. López-García;Y. Ho;M. Taverne;Lifeng Chen;M. M. Murshidy-M.;A. P. Edwards;M. Serry;A. Adawi;J. Rarity;R. Oulton
通讯作者：
M. López-García;Y. Ho;M. Taverne;Lifeng Chen;M. M. Murshidy-M.;A. P. Edwards;M. Serry;A. Adawi;J. Rarity;R. Oulton

Light-induced dynamic structural color by intracellular 3D photonic crystals in brown algae.

DOI：
10.1126/sciadv.aan8917
发表时间：
2018-04
期刊：
Science advances
影响因子：
13.6
作者：
Lopez-Garcia M;Masters N;O'Brien HE;Lennon J;Atkinson G;Cryan MJ;Oulton R;Whitney HM
通讯作者：
Whitney HM

Optical control of the emission direction of a quantum dot