Asymmetries of spin-flip electronic Raman scatteringin a III-V semiconductor quantum well

Abstract

We have calculated the angular and the polarization dependence of spin-flip electronic Raman scattering from a III-V semiconductor quantum well with its conduction band spin split due to broken inversion symmetry. We found that the interference of light scattered from the longitudinal and transverse spin-density fluctuations leads to a dependence of the Raman spectrum on the direction of circular polarization of photons. This phenomenon at zero magnetic field is entirely due to the intrinsic electron spin dynamics in the spin-split band. The predicted asymmetric polarization dependence is preserved when the sample becomes dirty, such that the elastic-electron scattering rate exceeds the characteristic frequency of electron spin precession in the spin-split band.