Decoherence and quantum entangled exciton states in semiconductor quantum dot molecule

Recently a pair of vertically aligned quantum dots has been suggested as optically driven quantum gate. The later is built when two different particles, an electron and a hole, are created optically. The two particles form entangled states. We study theoretically the dynamics of a single heavy hole exciton confined in a small vertically coupled quantum dot. We use harmonic potentials to model the confining of electrons and holes and calculate the exciton's energy spectrum using the Hund-Mulliken approach, and including the Coulomb interaction. The entanglement may be controlled by the application of external electric field. At certain times of dynamical evolution one can generate a maximally entangled coherent exciton state by initially preparing the quantum clots in a superposition of coherent state. In ideal situations, entangled quantum states would not decohere during processing and transmission of quantum information. However, a real quantum system is inevitably influenced by its environment. Since, we study the decoherence effect caused by the interaction of the confined carriers with the acoustic phonon effects. (C) 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. Weinheim.