  We demonstrate that the quantum dot-confined dark exciton forms a long-lived
integer spin solid state qubit which can be deterministically on-demand
initiated in a pure state by one optical pulse. Moreover, we show that this
qubit can be fully controlled using short optical pulses, which are several
orders of magnitude shorter than the life and coherence times of the qubit. Our
demonstrations do not require an externally applied magnetic field and they
establish that the quantum dot-confined dark exciton forms an excellent solid
state matter qubit with some advantages over the half-integer spin qubits such
as the confined electron and hole, separately. Since quantum dots are
semiconductor nanostructures that allow integration of electronic and photonic
components, the dark exciton may have important implications on implementations
of quantum technologies consisting of semiconductor qubits.
