LAUSR

Abstract Polarization-resolved photoluminescence was used to study spin relaxation of photoexcited holes in In 0.53Ga0.47As/InP quantum wells in a quantizing magnetic field as a function of temperature. At a temperature below 10 K, the circular polarization of the photoluminescence due to the spin-split valence band Landau levels was found temperature-independent. In this temperature range fast hole spin relaxation as compared to their lifetime leads to the photoluminescence circular polarization determined by the ratio of these times. Increasing temperature resulted in efficient hole spin thermalization in the Zeeman split valence band Landau levels and as a consequence, in vanishing photoluminescence polarization. Fits of the experimental data by the theory allowed a determination of the hole spin relaxation times related to different Landau levels and the corresponding hole effective g-factor. Direct measurements of the hole spin relaxation times prove the obtained results.