NMR investigation of how free composite fermions are at ν=1/2 -: art. no. 246804

NMR measurements of the electron spin polarization (P) have been performed on a 2D electron system at and around half-filled lowest Landau level. Comparing the magnetic field and the temperature dependence of P to models of free and interacting composite fermions (CF), the imbalance of spin-up and spin-down CF Fermi seas is mapped as a function of Zeeman energy. Independent measurements of the CF effective mass, g factor, and Fermi energy are obtained from the thermal activation of P in tilted fields. The filling factor dependence of the P for 2/5<ν<2/3 reveals a broken particle-hole symmetry for the partially polarized CF Fermi sea.