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.