Solid state nanostructures as platforms for emerging quantum technologies
Abstract
In this thesis, we investigate the use of solid state nanostructures in quantum metrology, information and computation. In the first chapter, we introduce the polaron
master equation which accurately captures the non-Markovian dynamics resulting
from the strong interaction between the nanostructure and its vibrational environment. In the next two chapters, we give the technical background required for
subsequent chapters.
In the next two chapters, we focus on applications of self-assembled quantum
dots. We investigate the modified emission properties of such a nanostructure close
to a metal surface, followed by an extension of our model to a sample of N > 1 quantum dots. In the next chapter, we propose a novel cluster state generation scheme,
using a hole-spin in a quantum dot to generate strings of frequency-entangled photons. Inspired by the results in this chapter, we then propose a new approach to
reconstruct the quantum state of a system which has accumulated random errors
which are only characterised post-measurement.
Turning our attention to negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy centres, we then
investigate a new technique of increasing the coherence time of an electron spin by
adaptively gaining information about the state of its dilute environment.