Heating of the magnetic ion system in (Zn, Mn)Se/(Zn, Be)Se semimagnetic quantum wells by means of photoexcitation

Abstract

Heating of the spin system of magnetic Mn ions by means of photoexcited carriers has been studied in undoped (Zn, Mn)Se/(Zn, Be)Se multiple quantum well structures. Elevated spin temperature of the magnetic ions has been documented by a suppression of the giant Zeeman splitting of excitonic states measured in photoluminescence and reflectivity spectra. Low densities of photoexcitation (about 1 ${\mathrm{W}/\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{2}$) induce strong heating of the Mn spin system. The heating shows a strong dependence on the Mn content varying from 0.004 to 0.06. It decreases with increasing Mn content due to the shortening of the spin-lattice relaxation time.