Spin dynamics of negatively charged excitons in CdSe/CdS colloidal nanocrystals

The spin dynamics in chemically synthesized CdSe/CdS core/shell nanocrystals (NCs) are studied by polarization- and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) techniques in high magnetic fields and at low temperatures. Analysis of the recombination dynamics shows that the emission of thin-shell NCs is contributed by neutral excitons, while for thick-shell NCs it is dominated by charged excitons (trions). The sign of the PL polarization unambiguously demonstrates that these trions are negatively charged. A theoretical model of the PL polarization in an ensemble of randomly oriented NCs describes well magnetic field and time dependences of the PL polarization degree and allows us to determine the hole g factor in CdSe/CdS NCs, (gh) = -0.54. From direct measurements of the spin relaxation rate dependences on magnetic field and temperature, we identify the mechanism of the negative trion spin relaxation as two-phonon-assisted Raman scattering between the hole spin sublevels mixed by the applied magnetic field.