Spatial imaging and mechanical control of spin coherence in strained GaAs epilayers

The effect of uniaxial tensile strain on spin coherence in n-type GaAs epilayers is probed using time-resolved Kerr rotation, photoluminescence, and optically detected nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies. The band gap, electron spin lifetime, electron g factor, and nuclear quadrupole splitting are simultaneously imaged over millimeter scale areas of the epilayers for continuously varying values of strain. All-optical nuclear magnetic resonance techniques allow access to the strain-induced nuclear quadrupolar resonance splitting in field regimes not easily addressable using conventional optically detected nuclear magnetic resonance.