Spin-flip transitions between Zeeman sublevels in semiconductor quantum dots

Alexander V. Khaetskii, Yuli V. Nazarov

Published 2000-03-31, updated 2001-07-02Version 2

We have studied spin-flip transitions between Zeeman sublevels in GaAs electron quantum dots. Several different mechanisms which originate from spin-orbit coupling are shown to be responsible for such processes. It is shown that spin-lattice relaxation for the electron localized in a quantum dot is much less effective than for the free electron. The spin-flip rates due to several other mechanisms not related to the spin-orbit interaction are also estimated.