Physics Colloquium-Prof. Mark Eriksson

Abstract:

One of the remarkable features of spins in the solid state is the enormous range of time-scales over which coherent manipulation is possible. If one considers gate-controlled manipulation of nuclear spins at one extreme, and strongly-interacting multi-electron qubits at the other extreme, coherent control of spins in semiconductors has been demonstrated with over 9 orders of magnitude variation in the manipulation time. Remarkably, confining three electrons in two neighboring quantum dots enables all electrical control and measurement of spin dynamics on time scales less than one nanosecond.

 In this talk I will discuss the interesting commonalities and contrasts between the two limiting cases: qubits composed of a single-spin, be it electron or nuclear, where magnetically-driven manipulation is required, and qubits composed of multiple electrons, for which case direct electric-field manipulation is possible.

Bio:

Mark A. Eriksson is Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Prior to joining the University of Wisconsin in 1999, he received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1997 and was a postdoctoral member of technical staff at Bell Labs for two years from 1997-1999. Currently he leads a multi-university team studying semiconductor-based quantum computing and focusing on the development of spin qubits in silicon/silicon-germanium gate-defined quantum dots.  Eriksson is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.