In this paper we will review Exciton Spin Dynamics in Semiconductor Quantum Wells. The spin properties of excitons in nanostructures are determined by their fine structure. We will mainly focus in this review on GaAs and InGaAs quantum wells which are model systems.
The carrier spin dynamics in ZnO is investigated by time-resolved optical orientation experiments. We evidence a clear circular polarization of the donor-bound exciton luminescence in both ZnO epilayer and non-intentionally doped bulk ZnO. This allow
s us to measure the localized hole spin relaxation time. We find $tau^{s}_h$$sim$350 ps at T=1.7 K in the ZnO epilayer. The strong energy and temperature dependences of the photoluminescence polarization dynamics are well explained by the fast free exciton spin relaxation time and the ionization of bound excitons.
We propose a three-pulse coherent ultrafast optical technique that is particularly sensitive to two-exciton correlations. Two Liouville-space pathways for the density matrix contribute to this signal which reveals double quantum coherences when displ
ayed as a two-dimensional correlation plot. Two-exciton couplings spread the cross peaks along both axes, creating a characteristic highly resolved pattern. This level of detail is not available from conventional one-dimensional four-wave mixing or other two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy signals such as the photo echo, in which two-exciton couplings show up along a single axis and are highly congested.
Based on a microscopic many-particle theory, we predict large optical gain in the probe and background-free four-wave mixing directions caused by excitonic instabilities in semiconductor quantum wells. For a single quantum well with radiative-decay l
imited dephasing in a typical pump-probe setup we discuss the microscopic driving mechanisms and polarization and frequency dependence of these instabilities.
Spin-magnetophonon level splitting in a quantum well made of a semimagnetic wide gap semiconductor is considered. The semimagnetic semiconductors are characterized by a large effective $g$ factor. The resonance conditions $hbaromega_{rm LO}=mu_BgB$ f
or the spin flip between two Zeeman levels due to interaction with longitudinal optical phonons can be achieved sweeping magnetic field $B$. This condition is studied in quantum wells. It is shown that it leads to a level splitting that is dependent on the electron-phonon coupling strength as well as on the spin-orbit interaction in this structure. We treat in detail the Rashba model for the spin-orbit interaction assuming that the quantum well lacks inversion symmetry and briefly discuss other models. The resonant transmission and reflection of light by the well is suggested as a suitable experimental probe of the level splitting.
Spin-orbit (SO) interactions give a spin-dependent correction r_so to the position operator, referred to as the anomalous position operator. We study the contributions of r_so to the spin-Hall effect (SHE) in quasi two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor
quantum wells with strong band structure SO interactions that cause spin precession. The skew scattering and side-jump scattering terms in the SHE vanish, but we identify two additional terms in the SHE, due to r_so, which have not been considered in the literature so far. One term reflects the modification of the spin precession due to the action of the external electric field (the field drives the current in the quantum well), which produces, via r_so, an effective magnetic field perpendicular to the plane of the quantum well. The other term reflects a similar modification of the spin precession due to the action of the electric field created by random impurities, and appears in a careful formulation of the Born approximation. We refer to these two effects collectively as anomalous spin precession and we note that they contribute to the SHE to the first order in the SO coupling constant even though they formally appear to be of second order. In electron systems with weak momentum scattering, the contribution of the anomalous spin precession due to the external electric field equals 1/2 the usual side-jump SHE, while the additional impurity-dependent contribution depends on the form of the band structure SO coupling. For band structure SO linear in wave vector the two additional contributions cancel. For band structure SO cubic in wave vector only the contribution due to external electric field is present, and can be detected through its density dependence. In 2D hole systems both anomalous spin precession contributions vanish identically.