In this paper, we develop a nonperturbation theory for describing decoherence dynamics of electron charges in a double quantum dot gated by electrodes. We extend the Feynman-Vernon influence functional theory to fermionic environments and derive an exact master equation for the reduced density matrix of electrons in the double dot for a general spectral density at arbitrary temperature and bias. We then investigate the decoherence dynamics of the double-dot charge qubit with backreaction of the reservoirs being fully taken into account. Time-dependent fluctuations and leakage effects induced from the dot-reservoir coupling are explicitly explored. The charge qubit dynamics from the Markovian to non-Markovian regime is systematically studied under various manipulating conditions. The decay behavior of charge qubit coherence and the corresponding relaxation time $T_1$ and dephasing time $T_2$ are analyzed in detail.

• Received 20 September 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.78.235311