Correlated dynamics of a Rabi oscillation and a quantum tunneling in coupled quantum dots

•We couple a Rabi oscillating electron and a quantum tunneling one in a four-quantum-dot system.•We show the correlated dynamics of Rabi oscillation and quantum tunneling.•We reveal that the Rabi oscillation and the quantum tunneling can be synchronized under specific condition.•We propose a possible way to accomplish a gang control of two electrons by a single optical signal.

We couple the Rabi oscillation in a double quantum dot (DQD) with the quantum tunneling in another DQD by Coulomb interaction between the neighboring dots. Such a coupling leads to correlation of the Rabi oscillating electron and the quantum tunneling one, and gives a tendency of synchronizing them under appropriate Rabi frequency ΩRΩR and tunneling rate Tc. The correlated oscillation is shown clearly in the tunneling current. As ΩR=TcΩR=Tc, the Rabi oscillation and the quantum tunneling reach their strongest correlation and the two electrons finish their complete transitions simultaneously. And then, a single optical signal accomplishes a gang control of two electrons. This result encourages superior design of two-qubit quantum gates based on correlated DQDs.