Influence of Spin Relaxation of “Hot” Electrons on the Effectiveness of Optical Orientation in Semiconductors

Abstract

A considerable number of investigations have been carried out to date on the optical orientation of electrons in semiconductors [1–6]. In most cases, the effectiveness of the orientation was determined principally by the spin relaxation of the electrons at the bottom of the conduction band. We show in the present paper that the degree of stationary orientation of the non-equilibrium electrons can be determined to a considerable degree (depending on the impurity concentration) by the spin relaxation occurring upon thermalization of the “hot” electrons produced by the light.