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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Nanofabrication of Gate-defined GaAs/AlGaAs Lateral Quantum Dots
Published on: November 1, 2013
Scaling Up Molecular Electron Spin Qubits Around a Core-Shell Quantum Dot
Simon G McAdams1, Jesus Ferrando-Soria1, Paul D McNaughter1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Abstract:
Attachment of molecular nanomagnets (MNMs) to surfaces is an essential step toward multi-qubit assemblies for the implementation of quantum information technologies. Here, thiol-monofunctionalized {Cr7Ni} molecular antiferromagnetic rings that have potential as electron spin qubits have been synthesized and successfully attached to the surface of a highly luminescent core-shell CdSe/ZnS quantum dot (QD) nanoparticle via a ligand exchange process. The successful grafting of eleven molecular rings per QD was confirmed by high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) imaging, energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) imaging, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements. Photoluminescence (PL) and pulse electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies indicated that the resulting hybrid nano-objects display the bright optical emission provided by CdSe/ZnS QDs and long-lived quantum coherence associated with eleven grafted {Cr7Ni} molecular qubits. Thus, grafting of MNMs to nanoparticle surface provides an elegant method for generating hybrid assemblies with magnetic optical dual functionality and a facile approach to scale electron spin qubits.
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