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Phys. Rev. B 72, 035302 (2005) [5 pages]

Optically detected measurement of the ground-state population of an ensemble of neutral donors in GaAs

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D. G. Allen and M. S. Sherwin*
Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA

C. R. Stanley
Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, United Kingdom

Received 1 March 2005; revised 19 April 2005; published 5 July 2005

Strong resonant elastic light scattering (RELS) from the donor-bound exciton transition in GaAs (1.514 eV) occurs at neutral donors in the ground (1S) state, but not at neutral donors in excited hydrogenic states. When 1.6 THz radiation is incident on an ensemble of neutral donors, we observe up to a 30% decrease in the RELS, corresponding to a decrease in the population of neutral donors in their ground states. This signature allows for optical detection of the ground-state population of donors, and is similar to quantum nondemolition measurement techniques used for readout of ion trap quantum computers. In this scheme, Auger recombination of the bound exciton, which changes the state of the donor during measurement, limits the measurement fidelity and maximum near infrared laser excitation intensity.

© 2005 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.72.035302
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevB.72.035302
PACS:
78.35.+c, 78.55.Cr, 03.67.−a

*Electronic address: sherwin@physics.ucsb.edu