Spin manipulation and spin-lattice interaction in magnetic colloidal quantum dots

We report on the spin-lattice interaction and coherent manipulation of electron spins in Mn-doped colloidal PbS quantum dots (QDs) by electron spin resonance. We show that the phase memory time,TM, is limited by Mn-Mn dipolar interactions, hyperfine interactions of the protons (H1) on the QD capping ligands with Mn ions in their proximity (<1 nm), and surface phonons originating from thermal fluctuations of the capping ligands. In the low Mn concentration limit and at low temperature, we achieve a long phase memory time constant TM∼0.9μs, thus enabling the observation of Rabi oscillations. Our findings suggest routes to the rational design of magnetic colloidal QDs with phase memory times exceeding the current limits of relevance for the implementation of QDs as qubits in quantum information processing