Scanning tunneling microscopes (STMs) are conventionally used to probe surfaces with atomic resolution. Recent advances in STM include tunneling from spin-polarized and superconducting tips, time-domain spectroscopy, and the fabrication of atomically precise Si nanoelectronics. In this issue of ACS Nano, Tettamanzi et al. probe a single-atom transistor in silicon, fabricated using the precision of a STM, at microwave frequencies. While previous studies have probed such devices in the MHz regime, Tettamanzi et al. probe a STM-fabricated device at GHz frequencies, which enables excited-state spectroscopy and measurements of the excited-state lifetime. The success of this experiment will enable future work on quantum control, where the wave function must be controlled on a time scale that is much shorter than the decoherence time. We review two major approaches that are being pursued to develop spin-based quantum computers and highlight some recent progress in the atom-by-atom fabrication of donor-based devices in silicon. Recent advances in STM lithography may enable practical bottom-up construction of large-scale quantum devices.Keywords: Kane quantum computer; phosphorus; quantum device; silicon; spectroscopy;

We characterize nanostructures of Bi2Se3 that are grown via metal–organic chemical vapor deposition using the precursors diethyl selenium and trimethyl bismuth. By adjusting growth parameters, we obtain either single-crystalline ribbons up to 10 μm long or thin micrometer-sized platelets. Four-terminal resistance measurements yield a sample resistivity of 4 mΩ·cm. We observe weak antilocalization and extract a phase coherence length lϕ = 178 nm and spin–orbit length lso = 93 nm at T = 0.29 K. Our results are consistent with previous measurements on exfoliated samples and samples grown via physical vapor deposition.

The electronic properties and nanostructure of InAs nanowires are correlated by creating multiple field effect transistors (FETs) on nanowires grown to have low and high defect density segments. 4.2 K carrier mobilities are ∼4× larger in the nominally defect free segments of the wire. We also find that dark field optical intensity is correlated with the mobility, suggesting a simple route for selecting wires with a low defect density. At low temperatures, FETs fabricated on high defect density segments of InAs nanowires showed transport properties consistent with single electron charging, even on devices with low resistance ohmic contacts. The charging energies obtained suggest quantum dot formation at defects in the wires. These results reinforce the importance of controlling the defect density in order to produce high quality electrical and optical devices using InAs nanowires.

We use gate voltage control of the exchange interaction to prepare, manipulate, and measure two-electron spin states in a GaAs double quantum dot. By placing two electrons in a single dot at low temperatures we prepare the system in a spin singlet state. The spin singlet is spatially separated by transferring an electron to an adjacent dot. The spatially separated spin singlet state dephases in ∼10ns due to the contact hyperfine interaction with the GaAs host nuclei. To combat the hyperfine dephasing, we develop quantum control techniques based on fast electrical control of the exchange interaction. We demonstrate coherent spin-state rotations in a singlet–triplet qubit and harness the coherent rotations to implement a singlet–triplet spin echo refocusing pulse sequence. The singlet–triplet spin echo extends the spin coherence time to 1.2μs.