653 research outputs found
Closing the gap between spatial and spin dynamics of electrons at the metal-to-insulator transition
We combine extensive precision measurements of the optically detected spin
dynamics and magneto-transport measurements in a contiguous set of n-doped bulk
GaAs structures in order to unambiguously unravel the intriguing but complex
contributions to the spin relaxation at the metal-to-insulator transition
(MIT). Just below the MIT, the interplay between hopping induced loss of spin
coherence and hyperfine interaction yields a maximum spin lifetime exceeding
800~ns. At slightly higher doping concentrations, however, the spin relaxation
deviates from the expected Dyakonov-Perel mechanism which is consistently
explained by a reduction of the effective motional narrowing with increasing
doping concentration. The reduction is attributed to the change of the dominant
momentum scattering mechanism in the metallic impurity band where scattering by
local conductivity domain boundaries due to the intrinsic random distribution
of donors becomes significant. Here, we fully identify and model all intricate
contributions of the relevant microscopic scattering mechanisms which allows
the complete quantitative modeling of the electron spin relaxation in the
entire regime from weakly interacting up to fully delocalized electrons
Spin noise spectroscopy in GaAs
We observe the noise spectrum of electron spins in bulk GaAs by Faraday
rotation noise spectroscopy. The experimental technique enables the undisturbed
measurement of the electron spin dynamics in semiconductors. We measure
exemplarily the electron spin relaxation time and the electron Lande g-factor
in n-doped GaAs at low temperatures and find good agreement of the measured
noise spectrum with an unpretentious theory based on Poisson distribution
probability.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Anomalous Spin Dephasing in (110) GaAs Quantum Wells: Anisotropy and Intersubband Effects
A strong anisotropy of electron spin decoherence is observed in GaAs/(AlGa)As
quantum wells grown on (110) oriented substrate. The spin lifetime of spins
perpendicular to the growth direction is about one order of magnitude shorter
compared to spins along (110). The spin lifetimes of both spin orientations
decrease monotonically above a temperature of 80 and 120 K, respectively. The
decrease is very surprising for spins along (110) direction and cannot be
explained by the usual Dyakonov Perel dephasing mechanism. A novel spin
dephasing mechanism is put forward that is based on scattering of electrons
between different quantum well subbands.Comment: 4 pages, 3 postscript figures, corrected typo
Measurement of heavy-hole spin dephasing in (InGa)As quantum dots
We measure the spin dephasing of holes localized in self-assembled (InGa)As
quantum dots by spin noise spectroscopy. The localized holes show a distinct
hyperfine interaction with the nuclear spin bath despite the p-type symmetry of
the valence band states. The experiments reveal a short spin relaxation time
{\tau}_{fast}^{hh} of 27 ns and a second, long spin relaxation time
{\tau}_{slow}^{hh} which exceeds the latter by more than one order of
magnitude. The two times are attributed to heavy hole spins aligned
perpendicular and parallel to the stochastic nuclear magnetic field. Intensity
dependent measurements and numerical simulations reveal that the long
relaxation time is still obscured by light absorption, despite low laser
intensity and large detuning. Off-resonant light absorption causes a
suppression of the spin noise signal due to the creation of a second hole
entailing a vanishing hole spin polarization.Comment: accepted to be published in AP
Electron spin relaxation in bulk GaAs for doping densities close to the metal-to-insulator transition
We have measured the electron spin relaxation rate and the integrated spin
noise power in n-doped GaAs for temperatures between 4 K and 80 K and for
doping concentrations ranging from 2.7 x 10^{-15} cm^{-3} to 8.8 x 10^{-16}
cm^{-3} using spin noise spectroscopy. The temperature dependent measurements
show a clear transition from localized to free electrons for the lower doped
samples and confirm mainly free electrons at all temperatures for the highest
doped sample. While the sample at the metal-insulator-transition shows the
longest spin relaxation time at low temperatures, a clear crossing of the spin
relaxation rates is observed at 70 K and the highest doped sample reveals the
longest spin relaxation time above 70 K.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Efficient Data Averaging for Spin Noise Spectroscopy in Semiconductors
Spin noise spectroscopy (SNS) is the perfect tool to investigate electron
spin dynamics in semiconductors at thermal equilibrium. We simulate SNS
measurements and show that ultrafast digitizers with low bit depth enable
sensitive, high bandwidth SNS in the presence of strong optical background shot
noise. The simulations reveal that optimized input load at the digitizer is
crucial for efficient spin noise detection while the bit depth influences the
sensitivity rather weakly
Low Temperature Relaxation of Donor Bound Electron Spins in Si 28: P
We measure the spin-lattice relaxation of donor bound electrons in ultrapure, isotopically enriched, phosphorus-doped Si28:P. The optical pump-probe experiments reveal at low temperatures extremely long spin relaxation times which exceed 20 h. The Si28:P spin relaxation rate increases linearly with temperature in the regime below 1 K and shows a distinct transition to a T9 dependence which dominates the spin relaxation between 2 and 4 K at low magnetic fields. The T7 dependence reported for natural silicon is absent. At high magnetic fields, the spin relaxation is dominated by the magnetic field dependent single phonon spin relaxation process. This process is well documented for natural silicon at finite temperatures but the Si28:P measurements validate additionally that the bosonic phonon distribution leads at very low temperatures to a deviation from the linear temperature dependence of Γ as predicted by theory
Low Temperature Relaxation of Donor Bound Electron Spins in 28Si:P
We measure the spin-lattice relaxation of donor bound electrons in ultrapure, isotopically enriched, phosphorus-doped 28Si:P. The optical pump-probe experiments reveal at low temperatures extremely long spin relaxation times which exceed 20 h. The 28Si:P spin relaxation rate increases linearly with temperature in the regime below 1 K and shows a distinct transition to a T9 dependence which dominates the spin relaxation between 2 and 4 K at low magnetic fields. The T7 dependence reported for natural silicon is absent. At high magnetic fields, the spin relaxation is dominated by the magnetic field dependent single phonon spin relaxation process. This process is well documented for natural silicon at finite temperatures but the 28Si:P measurements validate additionally that the bosonic phonon distribution leads at very low temperatures to a deviation from the linear temperature dependence of Γ as predicted by theory
Temperature dependence of the band gap of 28Si:P at very low temperatures measured via time-resolved optical spectroscopy
We measure the temperature dependence of the indirect band gap of isotopically purified 28Si:P in the regime from 0.1 K to 3 K by high-resolution absorption spectroscopy of the donor bound exciton transition. The measurements increase the up-to-date precision of the temperature-dependent band gap change by more than one order of magnitude and reveal a T4 dependence which is about a factor of two less than observed in previous measurements. Such a T4 dependence is predicted by theory, but the absolute values differ between our experiment and the most up-to-date calculations by a factor of 30, corroborating that the electron-phonon interaction at low temperatures is still not correctly included into theory. What is more, the ability of such very high-precision band-gap measurements facilitates the use of time- and spatially resolved 28Si:P absorption as a contactless, local thermometer and electric field sensor with a demonstrated time resolution of milliseconds
Microstructural changes in the reward system are associated with post-stroke depression
Background: Studies of lesion location have been unsuccessful in identifying mappings between single brain regions and post-stroke depression (PSD). Based on studies implicating the reward system in major depressive disorder without stroke, we investigated structural correlates within this system and their associations with PSD. Methods: The study enrolled 16 healthy controls, 12 stroke patients with PSD and 34 stroke patients free of PSD. Participants underwent 3T structural and diffusion MRI. Graph theoretical measures were used to examine global topology and whole-brain connectome analyses were employed to assess differences in the interregional connectivity matrix between groups. Structural correlates specific to the reward system were examined from grey matter volumes and by reconstructing its main white matter pathways, namely the medial forebrain bundle and cingulum connections, using deterministic tractography. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was derived as a measure of microstructural organization, and extracellular free-water (FW) as a possible proxy of neuroinflammation. Results: Subnetworks of decreased FA-weighted and increased FW-weighted connectivity were observed in patients with PSD relative to healthy controls. These networks subsumed the majority of regions constituting the reward system. Within the reward system, FA and FW of major connection pathways and grey matter volume were collectively predictive of PSD, explaining 37.8% of the variance in depression severity. Conclusions: PSD is associated with grey matter volume loss, reduced FA and increased extracellular FW in the reward system, similar to features observed in major depression without stroke. Structural characterization of the reward system is a promising biomarker of vulnerability to depression after stroke
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