  We present the results of a numerical investigation which show the excitation
of acoustoelectric modes of vibration in GaAs-based heterostructures due to
sharp nano-second electric-field pulses applied across surface gates. In
particular, we show that the pulses applied in quantum information processing
applications are capable of exciting acoustoelectric modes of vibration
including surface acoustic modes which propagate for distances greater than
conventional device dimensions. We show that the pulse-induced acoustoelectric
vibrations are capable of inducing significant undesired perturbations to the
evolution of quantum systems.

Quantum Physics