Probing the spin states of a single acceptor atom

Abstract

We demonstrate a single-hole transistor using an individual acceptor dopant embedded in a silicon channel. Magneto-transport spectroscopy reveals that the ground state splits as a function of magnetic field into four states, which is unique for a single hole bound to an acceptor in a bulk semiconductor. The two lowest spin states are heavy (|m(j)| = 3/2) and light (|m(j)| = 1/2) hole-like, a two-level system that can be electrically driven and is characterized by a magnetic field dependent and long relaxation time, which are properties of interest for qubits. Although the bulklike spin splitting of a boron atom is preserved in our nanotransistor, the measured Landé g-factors, |g(hh)| = 0.81 ± 0.06 and |g(lh)| = 0.85 ± 0.21 for heavy and light holes respectively, are lower than the bulk value.