Spin dynamics in high-mobility two-dimensional electron systems embedded in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

Since many years there has been great effort to explore the spin dynamics in low-dimensional electron systems embedded in GaAs/AlGaAs based heterostructures for the purpose of quantum computation and spintronics applications. Advances in technology allow for the design of high quality and well-defined two-dimensional electron systems (2DES), which are perfectly suited for the study of the underlying physics that govern the dynamics of the electron spin system. In this work, spin dynamics in high-mobility 2DES is studied by means of the all-optical time-resolved Kerr / Faraday rotation technique. In (001)-grown 2DES, a strong in-plane spin dephasing anisotropy is studied, resulting from the interference of comparable Rashba and Dresselhaus contributions to the spin-orbit field (SOF). The dependence of this anisotropy on parameters like the confinement length of the 2DES, the sample temperature, as well as the electron density is demonstrated. Furthermore, coherent spin dynamics of an ensemble of ballistically moving electrons is studied without and within an applied weak magnetic field perpendicular to the sample plane, which forces the electrons to move on cyclotron orbits. Finally, strongly anisotropic spin dynamics is investigated in symmetric (110)-grown 2DES, using the resonant spin amplification method. Here, extremely long out-of-plane spin dephasing times can be achieved, in consequence of the special symmetry of the Dresselhaus SOF