Dresden 2003 – scientific programme

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HL: Halbleiterphysik

HL 32: Spinabh
ängiger Transport II

HL 32.5: Talk

Wednesday, March 26, 2003, 15:30–15:45, POT/81

Generation of Spin-Polarized Charge Carriers by Optical Excitation — •Roland Winkler — Institut für Technische Physik III, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstr. 7, 91052 Erlangen

Optical interband excitation with circularly polarized light is a convenient tool for generating spin-polarized charge carriers in quasi two-dimensional (2D) systems. Commonly the results are interpreted using the angular momentum selection rules for optical transitions between different band edge electron and hole states in bulk semiconductors. However, due to the Coulomb interaction and the coupling between heavy and light holes the generated excitons usually contain substantial contributions from electron and hole states with different angular momentum components. We discuss how the spin polarization of the charge carriers is significantly affected by the mixing of the single-particle states. Accurate calculations of optical spectra support our arguments.