The impact of nuclear spin dynamics on electron transport through donors

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how nuclear spin dynamics influence electron transport in phosphorus donors in silicon, revealing a nuclear spin blockade mechanism and proposing a protocol for single nuclear spin readout via electron transport.

Contribution

It introduces a novel nuclear spin blockade mechanism affecting electron transport and develops a protocol for single nuclear spin readout using only electron transport measurements.

Findings

Identification of a nuclear spin blockade driven by nuclear spin dynamics.

Proposal of a protocol for single nuclear spin readout via electron transport.

Demonstration that multi-donor clusters can mitigate nuclear spin blockade, enabling low-field electron spin measurements.

Abstract

We present an analysis of electron transport through two weakly coupled precision placed phosphorus donors in silicon. In particular, we examine the (1,1) to (0,2) charge transition where we predict a new type of current blockade driven entirely by the nuclear spin dynamics. Using this nuclear spin blockade mechanism we devise a protocol to readout the state of single nuclear spins using electron transport measurements only. We extend our model to include realistic effects such as Stark shifted hyperfine interactions and multi-donor clusters. In the case of multi-donor clusters we show how nuclear spin blockade can be alleviated allowing for low magnetic field electron spin measurements.