Observation of Spin Relaxation Anisotropy in Semiconductor Quantum Wells

N. S. Averkiev, L. E. Golub, A. S. Gurevich, V. P. Evtikhiev, V. P. Kochereshko, A. V. Platonov, A. S. Shkolnik, Yu. P. Efimov

Published 2006-01-12Version 1

Spin relaxation of two-dimensional electrons in asymmetrical (001) AlGaAs quantum wells are measured by means of Hanle effect. Three different spin relaxation times for spins oriented along [110], [1-10] and [001] crystallographic directions are extracted demonstrating anisotropy of D'yakonov-Perel' spin relaxation mechanism. The relative strengths of Rashba and Dresselhaus terms describing the spin-orbit coupling in semiconductor quantum well structures. It is shown that the Rashba spin-orbit splitting is about four times stronger than the Dresselhaus splitting in the studied structure.