Nonlinear birefringence and time-resolved Kerr measurement of spin lifetimes in (110) GaAs/Al_yGa_1−yAs quantum wells

We report a study of the nonlinear birefringence in undoped (110)-oriented GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells using time-resolved pump-probe Kerr spectroscopy. Due to the optical anisotropy of the (110) quantum well plane, photoexcited carriers can give rise to a nonlinear birefringence and so cause probe polarization rotation independent of the pump polarization, i.e., independent of spin orientation. We develop a methodology for accurate determination of electron-spin lifetimes using the Kerr technique which takes account of this phenomenon and present room-temperature measurements of wavelength and power density dependence of the spin-relaxation rate. ©2010 The American Physical Society