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Valley–spin blockade and spin resonance in carbon nanotubes

Nature Nanotechnology volume 7, pages 630–634 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

The manipulation and readout of spin qubits in quantum dots have been successfully achieved using Pauli blockade, which forbids transitions between spin–triplet and spin–singlet states1. Compared with spin qubits realized in III–V materials2,3,4,5, group IV materials such as silicon and carbon are attractive for this application because of their low decoherence rates (nuclei with zero spins)6,7. However, valley degeneracies in the electronic band structure of these materials combined with Coulomb interactions reduce the energy difference between the blocked and unblocked states8,9,10, significantly weakening the selection rules for Pauli blockade. Recent demonstrations of spin qubits in silicon devices have required strain and spatial confinement to lift the valley degeneracy7. In carbon nanotubes, Pauli blockade can be observed by lifting valley degeneracy through disorder11,12,13,14, but this makes the confinement potential difficult to control. To achieve Pauli blockade in low-disorder nanotubes, quantum dots have to be made ultrasmall8,9, which is incompatible with conventional fabrication methods. Here, we exploit the bandgap of low-disorder nanotubes to demonstrate robust Pauli blockade based on both valley and spin selection rules. We use a novel stamping technique to create a bent nanotube, in which single-electron spin resonance is detected using the blockade. Our results indicate the feasibility of valley–spin qubits in carbon nanotubes.

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Figure 1: A carbon nanotube double quantum dot fabricated by stamping.
Figure 2: Valley–spin blockade in a p–n double quantum dot.
Figure 3: Magnetospectroscopy of double quantum dot with valley–spin blockade.
Figure 4: Effect of the bend.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Z. Zhong for the initial discussions about the stamping technique, as well as S.M. Frolov, A. Beukman and J.W.G. van den Berg for valuable suggestions. This research was supported by the Dutch Organization for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, PO Box 5046, Delft, 2600 GA, The Netherlands

    Fei Pei, Edward A. Laird, Gary A. Steele & Leo P. Kouwenhoven

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  1. Fei Pei
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  2. Edward A. Laird
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  3. Gary A. Steele
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  4. Leo P. Kouwenhoven
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Contributions

F.P. fabricated the devices. F.P. and E.A.L. performed the experiments. L.P.K. supervised the project. F.P., E.A.L. and L.P.K. prepared the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Leo P. Kouwenhoven.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Pei, F., Laird, E., Steele, G. et al. Valley–spin blockade and spin resonance in carbon nanotubes. Nature Nanotech 7, 630–634 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.160

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