Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	EP/C54563X/1
Title:	Control of electronic spin and photon polarisation in quantum dots
Principal Investigator:	Tartakovskii, Professor A
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Physics and Astronomy
Organisation:	University of Sheffield
Scheme:	Advanced Fellowship (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 August 2005	Ends:	31 July 2010	Value (£):	260,661
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Materials Characterisation Quantum Optics & Information
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Electronics
Related Grants:
Panel History:	Panel Date Panel Name Outcome 18 Apr 2005 Physics Fellowship Interview Panel Deferred 07 Mar 2005 Physics Fellowships Sifting Panel 2005 Deferred
Summary on Grant Application Form
The proposed programme will focus on achieving control of quantum states of charge carriers and photons in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and devices comprising these nano-structures. The key tasks will be to accurately prepare quantum states with information encoded in their properties and to control their interactions with the environment to prevent the loss of this information. In my proposal the full control of electronic quantum states will importantly include manipulation of a quantum degree of freedom, spin (acquiring discrete values +or-112 for electrons). Specially designed photonic structures will also permit a complete control on polarisation of photons emitted from QDs. The control of electronic and photon states are highly complementary. Electronic states will be controlled by e.g. external electric and magnetic fields to achieve desired spin properties of electrons and hence of the polarisation of emitted photons, whereas the emission properties of particular QD states are controlled by engineering of photonic properties, again to achieve spin and polarisation selective control. The experiments will be performed using powerful spectroscopy methods with strong involvement of microscopy, ultra-fast pulsed lasers and novel signal detection techniques.QDs which will be studied in the proposed programme are nanoscale In-rich islands surrounded by GaAs crystal matrix. Charge carriers (electrons and holes) captured from the matrix into a QD become isolated from the environment of a large semiconductor crystal and therefore exhibit a range of novel properties highly beneficial for practical device applications. The proposed research will focus on the properties which will be crucially important to understand/realize the potential of QDs for novel ultra-small memories, quantum computing, totally secure communication protocols (quantum cryptography) and lasers at new wavelengths (1.3 and 1.55 micron). All these applications rely on control of spin orientation and spin interactions of polarisation carriers captured in QDs and polarisation of light emitted from QDs. Very importantly, this control will be based on the in-depth knowledge about the dynamics of carriers and photons during their life-time in the complex structure of a semiconductor device. The information an the dynamics of electrons and photons will be obtained in time-resolved experiments, forming a large part of the proposed programme.
Key Findings
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Organisation Website:	http://www.shef.ac.uk