Electron spin relaxation in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wires analyzed by transient photoluminescence

We report on the spin relaxation in GaAs-based quantum wires and wells stud ied at 50 K < T < 180 K by analyzing the circularly polarized photoluminesc ence transients. A 3.5-times shortening of the electron spill relaxation ti me is observed in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wires compared with that in quantum w ells at 180 K. The observed results suggest that a spin Rip in the quantum wires is caused predominantly by the D'yakonov-Perel' effect due to spin-or bit interaction. The strong quantum confinement of electrons in the reduced dimensionality of the quantum structure leads to a larger spin splitting e nergy and a stronger temperature dependence of spin relaxation.