Spin diffusion of optically oriented electrons and photon entrainment in n-gallium arsenide

An experimental and theoretical study of spin transport in the n-GaAs semiconductor is reported. Transport of average electron spin from the photoexcited crystal surface is shown to be determined by the spin diffusion process. At the same time the transport of photoexcited carriers takes place primarily through photon entrainment, which transfers nonequilibrium carriers into the bulk of the semiconductor to distances considerably in excess of the electron spin diffusion length. A comparison of the experimental results with theory permits one to determine the average-spin diffusion length and electron-spin relaxation time. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.