Kinetics of spin coherence of electrons in an undoped semiconductor quantum well

We study the kinetics of spin coherence of optically excited electrons in an undoped insulating ZnSe/Zn1-xCdxSe quantum well under moderate magnetic fields in the Voigt configuration. After clarifying the optical coherence and the spin coherence, we build the kinetic Bloch equations and calculate dephasing and relaxation kinetics of laser pulse-excited plasma due to statically screened Coulomb scattering and electron-hole spin exchange. We find that the Coulomb scattering cannot cause the spin dephasing, and that the electron-hole spin exchange is the main mechanism of the spin decoherence. Moreover the beat frequency in the Faraday rotation angle is determined mainly by the Zeeman splitting, redshifted by the Coulomb scattering and the electron-hole spin exchange. Our numerical results are in agreement with experimental findings. A possible scenario for the contribution of electron-hole spin exchange to the spin dephasing of the n-doped material is also proposed.