Ultraslow Electron Spin Dynamics in GaAs Quantum Wells Probed by Optically Pumped NMR

Abstract

Optically pumped nuclear magnetic resonance (OPNMR) measurements were performed in two different electron-doped multiple quantum well samples near the fractional quantum Hall effect ground state nu=1/3. Below 0.5K, the spectra provide evidence that spin-reversed charged excitations of the nu=1/3 ground state are localized over the NMR time scale of ~40 microseconds. Furthermore, by varying NMR pulse parameters, the electron spin temperature (as measured by the Knight shift) could be driven above the lattice temperature, which shows that the value of the electron spin-lattice relaxation time lies between 100 microseconds and 500 milliseconds at nu=1/3.