Nonlinear dynamics of quantum dot nuclear spins

Electron spin dephasing in a singly charged semiconductor quantum dot can partially be suppressed by periodic laser pulsing. We propose a semi-classical approach describing the decoherence of the electron spin polarization governed by the hyperfine interaction with the nuclear spins as well as the probabilistic nature of the photon absorption. We use the steady-state Floquet condition to analytically derive two subclasses of resonance conditions excellently predicting the pea...

We analyze the polarization of nuclear spins in a quantum dot induced by a single-electron spin that is electrically driven to perform coherent Rabi oscillations. We derive the associated nuclear-spin polarization rate and analyze its dependence on the accessible control parameters, especially the detuning of the driving frequency from the electron Larmor frequency. The arising nuclear-spin polarization is related to the Hartmann-Hahn effect known from the NMR literature with...

We studied the zero-field dynamic nuclear spin polarization in a single In$_{0.75}$Al$_{0.25}$As/Al$_{0.3}$Ga$_{0.7}$As quantum dot. Even without any external magnetic field, the positive trion excited by the circularly-polarized light generated an Overhauser field of up to $\sim$0.8 T. From the excitation power dependences of the Overhauser field and degree of circular polarization of the photoluminescence spectra, the relation between the Overhauser field and Knight field u...

The spin interaction between an electron and nuclei was investigated optically in a single self-assembled InAlAs quantum dot (QD). In spin dynamics, the correlation time of the coupled electron-nuclear spin system and the electron spin relaxation time play a crucial role. We examined on a positively charged exciton in a QD to evaluate these key time constants directly via the temporal evolution measurements of the Overhauser shift and the degree of circular polarization. In a...

Resonant optical excitation of lowest-energy excitonic transitions in self-assembled quantum dots lead to nuclear spin polarization that is qualitatively different from the well known optical orientation phenomena. By carrying out a comprehensive set of experiments, we demonstrate that nuclear spin polarization manifests itself in quantum dots subjected to finite external magnetic field as locking of the higher energy Zeeman transition to the driving laser field, as well as t...

We report the electrical induction and detection of dynamic nuclear polarization in the spin-blockade regime of double GaAs vertical quantum dots. The largest Overhauser field observed was about 4 Tesla, corresponding to a nuclear polarization of about 40% in the present device. A phenomenological model is presented to provide a qualitative understanding of our results.

We demonstrate that bistability of the nuclear spin polarization in optically pumped semiconductor quantum dots is a general phenomenon possible in dots with a wide range of parameters. In experiment, this bistability manifests itself via the hysteresis behavior of the electron Zeeman splitting as a function of either pump power or external magnetic field. In addition, our theory predicts that the nuclear polarization can strongly influence the charge dynamics in the dot lead...

We present an experimental study of the dynamics underlying the buildup and decay of dynamical nuclear spin polarization in a single semiconductor quantum dot. Our experiment shows that the nuclei can be polarized on a time scale of a few milliseconds, while their decay dynamics depends drastically on external parameters. We show that a single electron can very efficiently depolarize the nuclear spins and discuss two processes that can cause this depolarization. Conversely, i...

Experimental investigation of nuclear spin effects on the electron spin polarization in singly negatively charged InP quantum dots is reported. Pump-probe photoluminescence measurements of electron spin relaxation in the microsecond timescale are used to estimate the time-period $T_{N}$ of the Larmor precession of nuclear spins in the hyperfine field of electrons. We find $T_{N}$ to be $\sim 1$ $\mu$s at $T \approx 5$ K, under the vanishing external magnetic field. From the t...

We report on the dynamic nuclear polarization of a single charge-tunable self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dot in a longitudinal magnetic field of $\sim$0.2T. The hyperfine interaction between the optically oriented electron and nuclei spins leads to the polarization of the quantum dot nuclei measured by the Overhauser-shift of the singly-charged excitons ($X^{+}$ and $X^{-}$). When going from $X^{+}$ to $X^{-}$, we observe a reversal of this shift which reflects the average e...