ELECTRON SPIN IMAGING IN QUANTUM HALL DEVICES BY KERR ROTATION MEASUREMENT

Abstract

The electron spin polarization images in a single layer GaAs / AlGaAs quantum well in the quantum Hall effect (QHE) regime have been observed by using an optical fiber-based high sensitive Kerr rotation microscope. The observed Kerr signal image at the Landau level filling factor ν = 1 reveals the small electron density fluctuation less than 1% through the degree of electron spin polarization. We have also observed the Kerr rotation images in the current flowing QHE devices. At ν = 1 QHE plateau, the winding strip of just ν = 1 incompressible state, which contributes the dissipationless electron transport, has been clearly observed in the bulk region of the devices. The highly current dependent Kerr images have valuable information for studying current density distribution and the distribution of spin polarization in the QHE regime. The experimental results and techniques of the Kerr imaging in the QHE regime have been reported in detail.