Skyrmion Effect on the Relaxation of Spin Waves in a Quantum Hall Ferromagnet

Abstract

Spin relaxation of two-dimensional electrons in a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well was studied by time-resolved Kerr rotation measurements using a two-color pump and probe technique. In quantum Hall ferromagnets, the spin-wave relaxation is strongly influenced by the photogenerated Skyrmion and anti-Skyrmion pairs. By tuning the pump and probe lights to the lowest optical transition, an intrinsic filling factor dependence of spin relaxation is obtained without photogeneration of Skyrmions. The relaxation time of the spin wave presents a sharp peak at odd filling factors, accompanied by dips on both sides of it. The peculiar filling factor dependence of the spin-wave relaxation around quantum Hall ferromagnets can be explained by the interaction between the spin wave and Skyrmion. Observation of a similar feature around ν=1, 3, and 5 may suggest the existence of Skyrmions around higher odd filling factors.