Spin noise spectroscopy in GaAs (110) quantum wells: Access to intrinsic spin lifetimes and equilibrium electron dynamics

In this Letter, the first spin noise spectroscopy measurements in semiconductor systems of reduced effective dimensionality are reported. The nondemolition measurement technique gives access to the otherwise concealed intrinsic, low temperature electron spin relaxation time of n-doped GaAs (110) quantum wells and to the corresponding low temperature anisotropic spin relaxation. The Brownian motion of the electrons within the spin noise probe laser spot becomes manifest in a modification of the spin noise line width. Thereby, the spatially resolved observation of the stochastic spin polarization uniquely allows to study electron dynamics at equilibrium conditions with a vanishing total momentum of the electron system. © 2008 The American Physical Society