Spin lifetime of (In,Ga)As/GaAs(110) quantum wells

Undoped and strained (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum wells of different width and height were grown on GaAs(110) by molecular beam epitaxy and characterized by photoluminescence and atomic force microscopy. The effect of geometry and interface quality on the out-of-plane electron spin lifetime is investigated for a wide temperature range by both time-resolved Faraday rotation and time-resolved transmission. Due to the suppression of the D'yakonov Perel' spin relaxation mechanism, the electron spin lifetime of the (110) quantum well is peaked at a temperature, which depends on In concentration, whereas the quantum well width, interface roughness and compositional fluctuations in the quantum well determine the maximum value of the spin lifetime. (c) 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.