Hybrid optical-electrical detection of donor electron spins with bound excitons in silicon.

Electrical detection of spins is an essential tool for understanding the dynamics of spins, with applications ranging from optoelectronics and spintronics, to quantum information processing. For electron spins bound to donors in silicon, bulk electrically detected magnetic resonance has relied on coupling to spin readout partners such as paramagnetic defects or conduction electrons, which fundamentally limits spin coherence times. Here we demonstrate electrical detection of donor electron spin resonance in an ensemble by transport through a silicon device, using optically driven donor-bound exciton transitions. We measure electron spin Rabi oscillations, and obtain long electron spin coherence times, limited only by the donor concentration. We also experimentally address critical issues such as non-resonant excitation, strain, and electric fields, laying the foundations for realizing a single-spin readout method with relaxed magnetic field and temperature requirements compared with spin-dependent tunnelling, enabling donor-based technologies such as quantum sensing.

[1]  Shinichi Tojo,et al.  Electron spin coherence exceeding seconds in high-purity silicon. , 2011, Nature materials.

[2]  J. Bokor,et al.  All-electrical nuclear spin polarization of donors in silicon. , 2013, Physical review letters.

[3]  C. Boehme,et al.  Room-temperature coupling between electrical current and nuclear spins in OLEDs , 2014, Science.

[4]  Michelle Y. Simmons,et al.  Atomic-scale, all epitaxial in-plane gated donor quantum dot in silicon. , 2009, Nano letters.

[5]  R. Rosenfeld.  Nature , 2009, Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

[6]  M. Stutzmann,et al.  Electrical detection of coherent nuclear spin oscillations in phosphorus-doped silicon using pulsed ENDOR. , 2010, Physical review letters.

[7]  J. R. Haynes.  Experimental Proof of the Existence of a New Electronic Complex in Silicon , 1960 .

[8]  M. Stutzmann,et al.  Improved Black Silicon for Photovoltaic Applications , 2013 .

[9]  K. Saeedi,et al.  Room-Temperature Quantum Bit Storage Exceeding 39 Minutes Using Ionized Donors in Silicon-28 , 2013, Science.

[10]  G. Feher,et al.  Electron Spin Resonance Experiments on Donors in Silicon. I. Electronic Structure of Donors by the Electron Nuclear Double Resonance Technique , 1959 .

[11]  Jacob M. Taylor,et al.  High-sensitivity diamond magnetometer with nanoscale resolution , 2008, 0805.1367.

[12]  J. S. Hodges,et al.  Repetitive Readout of a Single Electronic Spin via Quantum Logic with Nuclear Spin Ancillae , 2009, Science.

[13]  E. Haller,et al.  High-resolution photoluminescence measurement of the isotopic-mass dependence of the lattice parameter of silicon , 2008 .

[14]  J. Bokor,et al.  Electrically detected magnetic resonance of neutral donors interacting with a two-dimensional electron gas. , 2010, Physical review letters.

[15]  Ian Appelbaum,et al.  Electronic measurement and control of spin transport in silicon , 2007, Nature.

[16]  Gavin W. Morley,et al.  Electronic Spin Storage in an Electrically Readable Nuclear Spin Memory with a Lifetime >100 Seconds , 2010, Science.

[17]  Ultrahigh-resolution photoluminescence studies of excitons bound to boron in silicon under uniaxial stress. , 1992, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[18]  M. L. W. Thewalt,et al.  Quantum Information Storage for over 180 s Using Donor Spins in a 28Si “Semiconductor Vacuum” , 2012, Science.

[19]  Matthew J. Sellars,et al.  Optical addressing of an individual erbium ion in silicon , 2013, Nature.

[20]  W. Schmid.  Auger lifetimes for excitons bound to neutral donors and acceptors in Si , 1977 .

[21]  M. Thewalt,et al.  Effects of Uniaxial Stress on the Luminescence Lines Due to Multiexciton Complexes Bound to Phosphorus in Silicon , 1978 .

[22]  M. Thewalt,et al.  Temperature dependence of the energy gap of semiconductors in the low-temperature limit. , 2004, Physical Review Letters.

[23]  D. Boehme,et al.  T1 and T2 spin relaxation time limitations of phosphorous donor electrons near crystalline silicon to silicon dioxide interface defects , 2009, 0905.0416.

[24]  B. E. Kane.  A silicon-based nuclear spin quantum computer , 1998, Nature.

[25]  Andrew S. Dzurak,et al.  A single-atom electron spin qubit in silicon , 2012, Nature.

[26]  P. J. Dean,et al.  Absorption due to Bound Excitons in Silicon , 1967 .

[27]  Eugene E. Haller,et al.  Solid-state quantum memory using the 31P nuclear spin , 2008, Nature.

[28]  L. Hollenberg,et al.  Single-shot readout of an electron spin in silicon , 2010, Nature.

[29]  M. Thewalt,et al.  Quantum Hall charge sensor for single-donor nuclear spin detection in silicon , 2010, 1005.1064.

[30]  H. Riemann,et al.  Simultaneous subsecond hyperpolarization of the nuclear and electron spins of phosphorus in silicon by optical pumping of exciton transitions. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[31]  Electrical detection of coherent 31P spin quantum states , 2006, quant-ph/0607178.

[32]  M. Cardona,et al.  Fundamentals of semiconductors : physics and materials properties , 1997 .

[33]  G. Feher,et al.  Electron Spin Resonance Experiments on Donors in Silicon. III. Investigation of Excited States by the Application of Uniaxial Stress and Their Importance in Relaxation Processes , 1961 .

[34]  T. Thorbeck,et al.  Formation of strain-induced quantum dots in gated semiconductor nanostructures , 2014, 1409.3549.