Time-resolved and continuous-wave optical spin pumping of semiconductor quantum wells

Abstract

Experimental and theoretical studies of all-optical spin pump and probe of resident electrons in CdTe/(Cd,Mg)Te semiconductor quantum wells are reported. A two-color Hanle-MOKE technique (based on continuous-wave excitation) and time-resolved Kerr rotation in the regime of resonant spin amplification (based on pulsed excitation) provide a complementary measure of electron spin relaxation time. Influence of electron localization on long-lived spin coherence is examined by means of spectral and temperature dependencies. Various scenarios of spin polarization generation (via the trion and exciton states) are analyzed and difference between continuous-wave and pulsed excitations is considered. Effects related to inhomogeneous distribution of $g$-factor and anisotropic spin relaxation time on measured quantities are discussed.

26 pages, 19 figures, submitted to special issue on Optical Orientation of Semiconductor Science and Technology

References in corpus (2)

• Spin coherence of a two-dimensional electron gas induced by resonant excitation of trions and excitons in CdTe/(Cd,Mg)Te quantum wells
• Exciton spin decay modified by strong electron-hole exchange interaction

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Pump-Probe Faraday Rotation and Ellipticity in an Ensemble of Singly Charged Quantum Dots