The Landé factors of electrons and holes in lead halide perovskites: universal dependence on the band gap.

The Landé or g-factors of charge carriers are decisive for the spin-dependent phenomena in solids and provide also information about the underlying electronic band structure. We present a comprehensive set of experimental data for values and anisotropies of the electron and hole Landé factors in hybrid organic-inorganic (MAPbI3, MAPb(Br0.5Cl0.5)3, MAPb(Br0.05Cl0.95)3, FAPbBr3, FA0.9Cs0.1PbI2.8Br0.2, MA=methylammonium and FA=formamidinium) and all-inorganic (CsPbBr3) lead halide perovskites, determined by pump-probe Kerr rotation and spin-flip Raman scattering in magnetic fields up to 10 T at cryogenic temperatures. Further, we use first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations in combination with tight-binding and k ⋅ p approaches to calculate microscopically the Landé factors. The results demonstrate their universal dependence on the band gap energy across the different perovskite material classes, which can be summarized in a universal semi-phenomenological expression, in good agreement with experiment.

Radiative topological states in resonant photonic crystals.

We present a theory of topological edge states in one-dimensional resonant photonic crystals with a compound unit cell. Contrary to the conventional electronic topological states, the modes under consideration are radiative; i.e., they decay in time due to the light escape through the structure boundaries. We demonstrate that the edge states survive despite their radiative decay and can be detected both in time- and frequency-dependent light reflection.

Dark-bright mixing of interband transitions in symmetric semiconductor quantum dots.

In photoluminescence spectra of symmetric [111] grown GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots in longitudinal magnetic fields applied along the growth axis, we observe in addition to the expected bright states also nominally dark transitions for both charged and neutral excitons. We uncover a strongly nonmonotonic, sign-changing field dependence of the bright neutral exciton splitting resulting from the interplay between exchange and Zeeman effects. Our theory shows quantitatively that these surprising experimental results are due to magnetic-field-induced ±3/2 heavy-hole mixing, an inherent property of systems with C(3v) point-group symmetry.

Terahertz radiation driven chiral edge currents in graphene.

We observe photocurrents induced in single-layer graphene samples by illumination of the graphene edges with circularly polarized terahertz radiation at normal incidence. The photocurrent flows along the sample edges and forms a vortex. Its winding direction reverses by switching the light helicity from left to right handed. We demonstrate that the photocurrent stems from the sample edges, which reduce the spatial symmetry and result in an asymmetric scattering of carriers driven by the radiation electric field. The developed theory based on Boltzmann's kinetic equation is in a good agreement with the experiment. We show that the edge photocurrents can be applied for determination of the conductivity type and the momentum scattering time of the charge carriers in the graphene edge vicinity.

Dynamic Hall effect driven by circularly polarized light in a graphene layer.

We report the observation of the circular ac Hall effect where the current is solely driven by the crossed ac electric and magnetic fields of circularly polarized radiation. Illuminating an unbiased monolayer sheet of graphene with circularly polarized terahertz radiation at room temperature generates--under oblique incidence--an electric current perpendicular to the plane of incidence, whose sign is reversed by switching the radiation helicity. Alike the classical dc Hall effect, the voltage is caused by crossed E and B fields which are, however rotating with the light's frequency.

Optical orientation and spin-dependent recombination in GaAsN alloys under continuous-wave pumping.

We present a systematic theoretical study of spin-dependent recombination and its effect on optical orientation of photoelectron spins in semiconductors with deep paramagnetic centers. For this aim we generalize the Shockley-Read theory of recombination of electrons and holes through the deep centers with allowance for optically-induced spin polarization of free and bound electrons. Starting from consideration of defects with three charge states we turn to the two-charge-state model possessing nine parameters and show that it is compatible with available experimental data on undoped GaAsN alloys. In the weak- and strong-pumping limits, we derive simple analytic equations which are useful in prediction and interpretation of experimental results. Experimental and theoretical dependences of the spin-dependent recombination ratio and degree of photoluminescence circular polarization on the pumping intensity and the transverse magnetic field are compared and discussed.

Ratchet effects induced by terahertz radiation in heterostructures with a lateral periodic potential.

We report on the observation of the Seebeck ratchet effect. The effect is measured in semiconductor heterostructures with a one-dimensional lateral potential excited by terahertz radiation. The photocurrent generation is based on the combined action of a spatially periodic in-plane potential and a spatially modulated light, which gives rise to a modulation of the local temperature. In addition to the polarization-independent current due to the Seebeck ratchet effect, we observe a photon helicity dependent response and propose a microscopic mechanism to interpret the experimental findings.

One dimensional resonant Fibonacci quasicrystals: noncanonical linear and canonical nonlinear effects.

A detailed experimental and theoretical study of the linear and nonlinear optical properties of different Fibonacci-spaced multiple-quantum-well structures is presented. Systematic numerical studies are performed for different average spacing and geometrical arrangement of the quantum wells. Measurements of the linear and nonlinear (carrier density dependent) reflectivity are shown to be in good agreement with the computational results. As the pump pulse energy increases, the excitation-induced dephasing broadens the exciton resonances resulting in a disappearance of sharp features and reduction in peak reflectivity.

Attempts to grow optically coupled Fibonacci-spaced InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells result in surface gratings.

An instability in the growth of nonperiodic InGaAs/GaAs multiple quantum well samples, ordinarily of high-quality when grown with equal periods of order of half the wavelength of light in the material, leads to a dramatic microscopic, self-organized surface grating. This effect was discovered while growing quantum wells with two unequal barrier lengths arranged in a Fibonacci sequence to form an optical quasicrystal. A laser beam incident normal to the surface of the sample is diffracted into a propeller-shaped pattern. The sample surface has a distinctly cloudy appearance when viewed along one crystal axis but is mirror-like when the sample is rotated 90 degrees. The instability results in a five-fold increase in the absorption linewidth of the heavy-hole exciton transition. Atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the samples.

Excitonic polaritons in Fibonacci quasicrystals.

The fabrication and characterization of light-emitting one-dimensional photonic quasicrystals based on excitonic resonances is reported. The structures consist of high-quality GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells grown by molecular-beam epitaxy with wavelength-scale spacings satisfying a Fibonacci sequence. The polaritonic (resonant light-matter coupling) effects and light emission originate from the quantum well excitonic resonances. Measured reflectivity spectra as a function of detuning between emission and Bragg wavelength are in good agreement with excitonic polariton theory. Photoluminescence experiments show that active photonic quasicrystals, unlike photonic crystals, can be good light emitters: While their long-range order results in a stopband similar to that of photonic crystals, the lack of periodicity results in strong emission.

Experimental separation of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin splittings in semiconductor quantum wells.

The relative strengths of Rashba and Dresselhaus terms describing the spin-orbit coupling in semiconductor quantum well (QW) structures are extracted from photocurrent measurements on n-type InAs QWs containing a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). This novel technique makes use of the angular distribution of the spin-galvanic effect at certain directions of spin orientation in the plane of a QW. The ratio of the relevant Rashba and Dresselhaus coefficients can be deduced directly from experiment and does not relay on theoretically obtained quantities. Thus our experiments open a new way to determine the different contributions to spin-orbit coupling.

Hidden in-plane anisotropy of interfaces in Zn(Mn)Se /BeTe quantum wells with a type-II band alignment.

Circularly and linearly polarized radiation due to spatially indirect optical transitions is studied in semimagnetic (Zn,Mn)Se/BeTe and nonmagnetic ZnSe/BeTe quantum-well structures with a type-II band alignment. Because of the giant in-plane anisotropy of the optical matrix elements related to a particular interface, complete spin orientation of photocarriers induced by magnetic fields leads not to purely circular but instead to elliptical polarization of the luminescence. From comparison between theory and experiment the parameter of optical anisotropy of a ZnSe/BeTe interface is evaluated. The developed theoretical approach can be applied for the large class of nanostructures revealing optical anisotropy.

Spin-galvanic effect.

There is much recent interest in exploiting the spin of conduction electrons in semiconductor heterostructures together with their charge to realize new device concepts. Electrical currents are usually generated by electric or magnetic fields, or by gradients of, for example, carrier concentration or temperature. The electron spin in a spin-polarized electron gas can, in principle, also drive an electrical current, even at room temperature, if some general symmetry requirements are met. Here we demonstrate such a 'spin-galvanic' effect in semiconductor heterostructures, induced by a non-equilibrium, but uniform population of electron spins. The microscopic origin for this effect is that the two electronic sub-bands for spin-up and spin-down electrons are shifted in momentum space and, although the electron distribution in each sub-band is symmetric, there is an inherent asymmetry in the spin-flip scattering events between the two sub-bands. The resulting current flow has been detected by applying a magnetic field to rotate an optically oriented non-equilibrium spin polarization in the direction of the sample plane. In contrast to previous experiments, where spin-polarized currents were driven by electric fields in semiconductor, we have here the complementary situation where electron spins drive a current without the need of an external electric field.

Spin-sensitive bleaching and monopolar spin orientation in quantum wells.

Spin-sensitive bleaching of the absorption of far-infrared radiation has been observed in p-type GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well structures. The absorption of circularly polarized radiation saturates at lower intensities than that of linearly polarized light due to monopolar spin orientation in the first heavy-hole subband. Spin relaxation times of holes in p-type material in the range of tens of ps were derived from the intensity dependence of the absorption.

Conversion of spin into directed electric current in quantum wells.

A nonequilibrium population of spin-up and spin-down states in quantum well structures has been achieved applying circularly polarized radiation. The spin polarization results in a directed motion of free carriers in the plane of a quantum well perpendicular to the direction of light propagation. Because of the spin selection rules the direction of the current is determined by the helicity of the light and can be reversed by switching the helicity from right to left handed. A microscopic model is presented which describes the origin of the photon helicity driven current. The model suggests that the system behaves as a battery which generates a spin polarized current.