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Science 18 April 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5874, pp. 349 - 352
DOI: 10.1126/science.1154798
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Reports

Picosecond Coherent Optical Manipulation of a Single Electron Spin in a Quantum Dot

J. Berezovsky,* M. H. Mikkelsen,* N. G. Stoltz, L. A. Coldren, D. D. Awschalom{dagger}

Most schemes for quantum information processing require fast single-qubit operations. For spin-based qubits, this involves performing arbitrary coherent rotations of the spin state on time scales much faster than the spin coherence time. By applying off-resonant, picosecond-scale optical pulses, we demonstrated the coherent rotation of a single electron spin through arbitrary angles up to {pi} radians. We directly observed this spin manipulation using time-resolved Kerr rotation spectroscopy and found that the results are well described by a model that includes the electronnuclear spin interaction. Measurements of the spin rotation as a function of laser detuning and intensity confirmed that the optical Stark effect is the operative mechanism.

Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.

* These authors contributed equally to this work.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: awsch{at}physics.ucsb.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)