Coherent optical control of semiconductor quantum dots for quantum information processing

Coherent optically driven semiconductor quantum dot systems are proposed for the implementation of quantum information processing devices. Qubits defined in the exciton and spin bases are presented. In particular, single qubit rotation and a two-qubit logic gate have been demonstrated experimentally in the model exciton system. The experimental work done on the exciton system serves as a foundation for future work on spin-based qubits, which possess a much longer coherence lifetime.