Amplification of spin-filtering effect by magnetic field in GaAsN alloys

Abstract

We have found that intensity $I$ and circular polarization degree $\rho$ of the edge photoluminescence, excited in GaAsN alloys by circularly polarized light at room temperature, grow substantially in the longitudinal magnetic field $B$ of the order of 1\,kG. This increase depends on the intensity of pumping and, in the region of weak or moderate intensities, may reach a twofold value. In two-charge-state model, which considers spin-dependent recombination of spin-oriented free electrons on deep paramagnetic centers, we included the magnetic-field suppression of spin relaxation of the electrons bound on centers. The model describes qualitatively the rise of $\rho$ and $I$ in a magnetic field under different pump intensities. Experimental dependences $\rho(B)$ and $I(B)$ are shifted with respect to zero of the magnetic field by a value of $\sim$170\,Gauss, while the direction of the shift reverses with change of the sign of circular polarization of pumping. As a possible cause of the discovered shift we consider the Overhauser field, arising due to the hyperfine interaction of an electron bound on a center with nuclei of the crystal lattice in the vicinity of the center.