Semiconductor Membranes for Electrostatic Exciton Trapping in Optically Addressable Quantum Transport Devices

Physical Review Applied, vol. 19

Abstract

Combining the capabilities of gate-defined quantum transport devices in $\mathrm{Ga}\mathrm{As}$-based heterostructures and of optically addressed self-assembled quantum dots could open up broad perspectives in quantum technologies. For example, interfacing stationary solid-state qubits with photonic quantum states would open up a pathway towards the realization of a quantum network with extended quantum processing capacity in each node. While gated devices allow very flexible confinement of electrons or holes, the confinement of excitons without some element of self-assembly is much harder. To address this limitation, we introduce a technique to realize exciton traps in quantum wells via local electric fields by thinning a heterostructure down to a 220-nm-thick membrane. We show that mobilities over $1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{6}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{V}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ can be retained and that quantum point contacts and Coulomb oscillations can be observed on this structure, which implies that the thinning does not compromise the heterostructure quality. Furthermore, the local lowering of the exciton energy via the quantum-confined Stark effect is confirmed, thus forming exciton traps. These results lay the technological foundations for devices like single-photon sources, spin-photon interfaces and eventually quantum network nodes in $\mathrm{Ga}\mathrm{As}$ quantum wells, realized entirely with a top-down fabrication process.

Authors 12

1. Thomas Descamps Aachen JARA-FIT Institute Quantum Information

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   JARA-FIT Institute Quantum Information, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

2. Feng Liu Aachen JARA-FIT Institute Quantum Information

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   JARA-FIT Institute Quantum Information, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

3. Sebastian Kindel Aachen JARA-FIT Institute Quantum Information

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   JARA-FIT Institute Quantum Information, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

4. René Otten Aachen JARA-FIT Institute Quantum Information

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   JARA-FIT Institute Quantum Information, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

5. Tobias Hangleiter Aachen JARA-FIT Institute Quantum Information

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   JARA-FIT Institute Quantum Information, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

6. Chao Feng Zhao

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Peter Grünberg Institute, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

7. Mihail Ion Lepsa

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Peter Grünberg Institute, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

8. Julian Ritzmann

   Ruhr University Bochum

   Affiliation as printed

   Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Festkörperphysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany

9. Arne Ludwig

   Ruhr University Bochum

   Affiliation as printed

   Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Festkörperphysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany

10. Andreas Dirk Wieck

    Ruhr University Bochum

    Affiliation as printed

    Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Festkörperphysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany

11. Beata E. Kardynal Aachen Department of Physics

    Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

    Peter Grünberg Institute, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

12. Hendrik Bluhm corresponding Aachen JARA-FIT Institute Quantum Information

    Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    JARA-FIT Institute Quantum Information, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany