Spatial adiabatic passage in a realistic triple well structure

TL;DR

This paper studies the coherent tunneling process in a triple well quantum system using detailed numerical solutions, highlighting the importance of full quantum descriptions for accurate modeling in quantum information applications.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of electron evolution in a triple well structure, bridging quantum optics and condensed matter perspectives, and emphasizes the limitations of simplified models.

Findings

Eigen spectrum and time evolution characterized for various pulsing schemes

Quantum optics models capture most physics but miss key effects

Full quantum treatment reveals important effects for quantum control

Abstract

We investigate the evolution of an electron undergoing coherent tunneling via adiabatic passage (CTAP) using the solution of the one-dimensional Schroedinger equation in both space and time for a triple well potential. We find the eigenspectrum and complete time evolution for a range of different pulsing schemes. This also provides an example of a system that can be described with the tools from both quantum optics and condensed matter. We find that while the quantum optics description of the process captures most of the key physics, there are important effects that can only be correctly described by a more complete representation. This is an important point for applications such as quantum information processing or quantum control where it is common practice to use a reduced state space formulation of the quantum system in question.