QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

We show that coherent optical manipulation of a single confined spin is possible even in the absence of spin-orbit coupling. To this end, we consider the non-Markovian dynamics of a single valence orbital hole spin that has optically induced spin-exchange coupling to a low-temperature partially polarized electron gas. We show that the fermionic nature of the reservoir induces a coherent component to the hole spin dynamics that does not generate entanglement with the reservoir modes. We analyze in detail the competition of this reservoir-assisted coherent contribution with dissipative components displaying markedly different behavior at different time scales and determine the fidelity of optically controlled spin rotations.