A coherent beam splitter for electronic spin states

Abstract

Rapid coherent control of electron spin states is required for implementation of a spin-based quantum processor. We demonstrate coherent control of electronic spin states in a double quantum dot by sweeping an initially prepared spin singlet state through a singlet-triplet anti-crossing in the energy level spectrum. The anti-crossing serves as a beam splitter for the incoming spin singlet state. Consecutive crossings through the beam splitter, when performed within the spin dephasing time, result in coherent quantum oscillations between the singlet state and a triplet state. The all-electrical method for quantum control relies on electron-nuclear spin coupling and drives single electron spin rotations on nanosecond timescales.