Mn Hyperfine Beats in CdMnTe
Résumé
Mn spin dynamics is measured in very diluted (Cd,Mn)Te crystals by time-resolved Kerr rotation. Spin beats due to the hyperfine interaction between the 3d electrons of the Mn ions and their own nuclei are detected. It is shown that the effect of the crystal field can be strongly suppressed for "magic" orientations of the magnetic field. This particular orientation of the field permits the optical read-out of the Mn nuclear spin state. Manganese ions trapped on a semiconductor lattice have uniform properties and relatively long spin lifetimes, which make them promising for optical manipulation. In particular, Mn2+ ions embedded in a II-VI semiconductor are S-state ions, weakly coupled to the lattice. For this reason quite long Mn electronic spin relaxation times are expected and have been observed [1]. Here we show that the spin coherence time is mainly limited by dipole-dipole interactions at a Mn concentration x=0.001, and reaches up to 15 ns. At this low concentration, fine and hyperfine structures of Mn2+ are resolved in electron spin resonance experiments. In the time-domain it corresponds to low-frequency beats as shown in Fig. 1.