Optically detected nuclear magnetic resonance from a single heterojunction in the fractional quantum Hall regime

Abstract

We report a remarkably sensitive optical technique for detecting nuclear magnetic resonance from a single ultra-high mobility two-dimensional electron system at a GaAs heterojunction in the fractional quantum Hall regime. Resonant inter-band optical excitation of the 2DES provides a very high degree of dynamic nuclear polarization, three times greater than that previously achieved; this is detected by using inelastic light scattering to measure the Overhauser shift in the energy of the electron spin wave. Our optical detection scheme is sensitive only to the polarization of nuclei in the illuminated volume at the heterojunction. This factor, together with the highly resonant excitation, increases the sensitivity of the technique and has allowed us to measure Knight-shifted magnetic resonance bands of As and Ga nuclei within a single 2DES at filling factor ν=1/3 at temperatures <100 mK. These measurements can be made over a wide range of temperatures and filling factors and have great potential for the study of collective spin excitations in the fractional quantum Hall regime.