Single atom dynamics in silicon

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Copyright: van der Heijden, Joost
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Abstract
The experimental study of semiconductors has advanced to the point where individual atoms can be addressed in measurements and, more importantly, manipulated. Single atoms are of great interest as they provide charge, orbital, and spin degrees of freedom, which can be harnessed for emerging quantum technologies. In this thesis state-of-the-art silicon field-effect transistors have been used to probe and control single atoms. This approach benefits from the availability of a highly-developed fabrication platform for silicon nanostructures. In addition, silicon naturally provides a small density of nuclear spins, producing little magnetic background disturbance. The main focus of this thesis is the investigation of single boron atoms in silicon. The quantum states of holes bound to acceptor atoms are attractive for quantum information processing because of the presence of spin-orbit coupling. Under the right conditions, this gives rise to a strong dipole coupling in a two-level quantum system. Such spin-orbit quantum bits are promising, because of their fast electrical control by local electrodes and long-distance quantum bit coupling via cavity modes. In this thesis single boron atoms have been identified in both electrical transport and rf gate reflectometry measurements of transistors at cryogenic temperatures. A comprehensive study of the Zeeman effect on the four-fold degenerate ground state of an acceptor shows a strong influence of the local environment. Furthermore, measurements on two coupled acceptors demonstrate, for the first time, the interaction between heavy holes and light holes, which is governed by the spin-orbit coupling. Fundamental heavy-light hole relaxation and heavy-light hole mixing have been observed. Additionally, the potential of single-atom transistors to be used as efficient single-electron pumps has been explored in this thesis. Quantized charge pumps are promising single electron sources, which could produce a new quantum standard for the Ampere. A single-atom specific model has been developed to describe the distinctive operation of a silicon single-atom electron pump, as observed in recent experiments, and to investigate possible improvements of this pump. These results demonstrate the distinct dynamical behavior of individual atoms in silicon and thereby show their prospect to be used in the fields of quantum information and quantum metrology.
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Author(s)
van der Heijden, Joost
Supervisor(s)
Rogge, Sven
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Publication Year
2017
Resource Type
Thesis
Degree Type
PhD Doctorate
UNSW Faculty
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