Optical Orientation of Carriers in Interband Transitions in Semiconductors

Optical orientation, meaning the preferred orientation of the electron spin upon absorption of polarized light, is one of the most fruitful methods of spectroscopy and is extensively used for the investigation of atoms and ions [1]. Observation of optical orientation in a semiconducting crystal would make it possible to use the methods developed in atomic spectroscopy to investigate semiconductors and particularly to perform accurate measurements of the lifetime, the spin-relaxation time, the carrier g-factors, etc. So far, however, only one communication was published reporting such investigations in semiconducting crystals [2].