title: Optical pumping of quantum-dot nuclear spins.
abstract: Hyperfine interactions with randomly oriented nuclear spins present a fundamental decoherence mechanism for electron spin in a quantum dot, that can be suppressed by polarizing the nuclear spins. Here, we analyze an all-optical scheme that uses hyperfine interactions to implement laser cooling of quantum-dot nuclear spins. The limitation imposed on spin cooling by the dark states for collective spin relaxation can be overcome by modulating the electron wave function.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Quantum Electronics, ETH Hönggerberg HPT G12, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Imamoglu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Knill
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zoller