Measurement of optically-pumped electron spin polarization in n-GaAs at high external electric fields

We use the technique of time-resolved Kerr rotation (TRKR) to measure the electron spin polarization generated by optical spin pumping in an n-type gallium arsenide (GaAs) epilayer when an external electric field is simultaneously applied on the sample. The drift of the electron spins under the influence of the external electric field is captured with spatial scans of the pump-probe separation. A significant decay in the magnitude of electron spin polarization with electric field is observed and is attributed to the increased inhomogeneous broadening caused by the field-induced drift and the hot electron effects. We extend the electric field range to as high as the Gunn threshold field in the measurement and we do not observe a spin amplification effect due to the spin Gunn effect under our experimental scheme.