Spin relaxation dynamics in highly uniform InAs quantum dots

We have investigated carrier spin dynamics in highly uniform self-assembled InAs quantum dots. The highly uniform quantum dots allowed us to observe the spin dynamics in the ground state and that in the first excited state separately, without the disturbance of inhomogeneous broadening. The spin relaxation times in the ground state and the first excited state were measured to be 1.0 ns and 0.6 ns, respectively. Our measurements reveal the absence of the carrier density dependence of the spin relaxation time. The measured spin relaxation time decreases rapidly from 1.1 ns at 10 K to 200 ps at 130 K. This large change in the spin relaxation time is well explained in terms of the mechanism of acoustic phonon emission.