Strong hyperfine-induced modulation of an optically driven hole spin in an InAs quantum dot

Abstract

Compared to electrons, holes in InAs quantum dots have a significantly weaker hyperfine interaction that leads to less dephasing from nuclear spins. Thus many recent studies have suggested that nuclear spins are unimportant for hole-spin dynamics compared to electric-field fluctuations. We show that the hole hyperfine interaction can have a strong effect on hole-spin coherence measurements through a nuclear feedback effect. The nuclear polarization is generated through a unique process that is dependent on the anisotropy of the hole hyperfine interaction and the coherent precession of nuclear spins, giving rise to strong modulation at the nuclear precession frequency.