Hyperfine Interaction of Electron and Nuclear Spins

Abstract

This chapter discusses the key interaction–hyperfine coupling–which underlies most of phenomena in the field of electron and nuclear spin dynamics. This interaction originates from magnetic interaction between the nuclear and electron spins. For conduction band electrons in III–V or II–VI semiconductors, it is reduced to a Fermi contact interaction whose strength is proportional to the probability of finding an electron at the nucleus. A more complex situation is realized for valence band holes where hole Bloch functions vanish at the nuclei. Here the hyperfine interaction is of the dipole–dipole type. The modification of the hyperfine coupling Hamiltonian in nanosystems is also analyzed. The chapter contains also an overview of experimental data aimed at determination of the hyperfine interaction parameters in semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures.