Electron spin relaxation in intrinsic bulk InP semiconductor

Electron spin dynamics in intrinsic bulk indium phosphide (InP) semiconductor is studied by time resolved pump probe reflectivity technique using the cocircularly and countercircularly polarized femtosecond pulses at room temperature and 70 K. The reflectivity change from bleaching into absorption is observed with increasing pump photon energy, which can be explained in terms of the spin sensitive band filling and band gap renormalization effects. Density dependence of electron spin relaxation time shows similar tendency at room temperature and 70 K. With increasing carrier density, the electron spin relaxation time increases and then decreases after reaching a maximum value. Our experimental results agree well with the recent theoretical prediction [Jiang and Wu, Phys. Rev. B 79, 125206 (2009)] and D'yakonov-Perel' mechanism is considered as a dominating contribution to the electron spin relaxation in intrinsic bulk InP semiconductor. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3533965]