Dynamics of nuclear spin polarization induced and detected by coherently precessing electron spins in fluorine-doped ZnSe

Abstract

We study the dynamics of optically-induced nuclear spin polarization in a fluorine-doped ZnSe epilayer via time-resolved Kerr rotation. The nuclear polarization in the vicinity of a fluorine donor is induced by interaction with coherently precessing electron spins in a magnetic field applied in the Voigt geometry. It is detected by nuclei-induced changes in the electron spin coherence signal. This all-optical technique allows us to measure the longitudinal spin relaxation time $T_{1}$ of the $^{77}\text{Se}$ isotope in a magnetic field range from 10 to 130~mT under illumination. We combine the optical technique with radio frequency methods to address the coherent spin dynamics of the nuclei and measure Rabi oscillations, Ramsey fringes and the nuclear spin echo. The inhomogeneous spin dephasing time $T_{2}^{*}$ and the spin coherence time $T_{2}$ of the $^{77}\text{Se}$ isotope are measured. While the $T_{1}$ time is on the order of several milliseconds, the $T_{2}$ time is several hundred microseconds. The experimentally determined condition $T_{1}\gg T_{2}$ verifies the validity of the classical model of nuclear spin cooling for describing the optically-induced nuclear spin polarization.