ITR: Optical Control in
Semiconductors for Spintronics and Quantum Information Processing
Supported by National
Science Foundation, Division of Materials Research, Condensed Matter Physics Program,
Program Officer: Dr. Hollis Wickman, Grant No. DMR-0325474, September 15, 2003 – August 31, 2008
PIs: J. Kono
(Rice University), H. Munekata (Tokyo Institute of Technology), Lu J. Sham
(University of California, San Diego), D. H. Reitze, G. D. Sanders, and C. J.
Stanton (University of Florida).
Project
Summary | Background | Project
Description | References Cited
Project Summary
The goal of this
ITR program is to develop ultrafast optical methods for controlling electronic,
magnetic, vibrational, and excitonic properties of
semiconductors for fast information processing. Successful manipulation of quantum states and processes in
solids – quantum engineered semiconductor structures in particular – will be a
necessary breakthrough for implementing the emerging technologies of
spintronics and quantum information science. Optical control, as opposed to electrical control, has the
advantage of performing quantum control on femtosecond time scales, which we
will explore in the following four specific contexts:
1) Optical control of ferromagnetism in magnetic III-V
semiconductors: we will investigate ultrafast magnetization reversal processes
in carrier-induced ferromagnetism using real and virtual carriers by above and
below bandgap excitations; 2) optical control of
band structure using the dynamic Franz-Keldysh effect: we will
non-perturbatively modify electronic states with ultrashort pulses of
long-wavelength light, which leads to ultrafast photoinduced absorption and
transparency; 3) optical control of electric fields
in GaN/InGaN strain superlattices: we will excite coherent, localized phonon
wavepackets which, through ultrafast alteration of the huge built-in piezo
electric fields, produces coherent terahertz waves; 4) optical control of excitons in coupled quantum
wells: we will demonstrate quantum gates based upon ultrafast optical control
of coherent tunneling of charge carriers in coupled quantum wells separated by
tunneling barriers.
We have formed a
unique, interdisciplinary team to conduct this innovative research, consisting
of three experimentalists and three theorists. A key feature is our {\it combined expertise} in
molecular-beam epitaxy, optical and terahertz spectroscopy, ultrafast optical
phenomena and pulse shaping, many-body theory, and theory of electronic,
optical and magnetic properties.
{\it Each investigator could not separately accomplish all of the
objectives of this program alone}.
The proposed
research work will train undergraduate and graduate researchers in frontier
projects in nanoscience and quantum information science to produce quantum
scientists and engineers with a wide and strong background in spectroscopy,
optics, photonics, solid state theory, many-body theory, and quantum
information theory. New courses on
nanotechnology and quantum information science will be developed in the Applied
Physics curricula at Rice University, the University of Florida, and the
University of California at San Diego.
The intellectual
merit of the proposed activity includes: increased understanding of the quantum
states and dynamics of interacting, non-equilibrium, or strongly driven
carriers in nanostructures; establishment of the quantum nature of
exciton-light interaction; and provision of a controlled environment in which
to address unanswered questions in many-body physics. The broader impacts resulting from the proposed activity
include: increased students' readiness for the fast-paced world of modern
nanotechnology; new spectroscopy techniques; novel device concepts and
implementations.
Background
Under construction
Project Description
Under
construction
References Cited
- Baklanov, E.V. and A.V. Chaplik, "Dielectric constant in a
two-band model of a semimetal" Fiz. Tverd. Tela (Leningrad) 7, 2768
(1965) [Sov. Phys. Solid State 7, 2240 (1966)].
- Fuk
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