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Strain-induced speed-up of Mn2+ spin-lattice relaxation in (Cd,Mn)Te/(Cd,Mg)Te quantum wells: A time-resolved optically detected magnetic resonance study

A. Bogucki1,2, A. Łopion2, K. E. Połczyńska2, W. Pacuski2, T. Kazimierczuk2, A. Golnik2, and P. Kossacki2

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Phys. Rev. B 112, 035407 – Published 7 July, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/q3jm-k7z3

Abstract

This study examines the spin-lattice relaxation rate of Mn2+ ions in strained diluted magnetic semiconductor (Cd,Mn)Te/(Cd,Mg)Te quantum wells using the optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) technique. By adjusting the magnesium (Mg) content in the buffer layer, we created samples with different strain levels. Our time-resolved ODMR results show that the spin-lattice relaxation time becomes faster as strain increases. We also found that the relaxation rate increases with both magnetic field and temperature, showing a power-law behavior. To understand these observations, we used a theoretical model based on six-level rate equations with nonequal level separations. This model suggests that the main factor affecting relaxation in our samples is a “direct” mechanism. The model's predictions match well with our experimental data. Overall, our findings give insights into spin-lattice relaxation in strained quantum wells and could be important for the development of future quantum and spintronic devices.

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Phys. Rev. B 112, 035407– Published 7 July, 2025
  • Received 4 March 2024
  • Revised 5 May 2025
  • Accepted 12 May 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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