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Updated: May 28, 2026

Experimental Methods for Spin- and Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy Combined with Polarization-Variable Laser
Published on: June 28, 2018
Proximity effects of a symmetry-breaking interface on spins of photoexcited electrons
Lan Qing1, Yang Song, Hanan Dery
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA. lan.qing@rochester.edu
Abstract:
We study reflection of optically spin-oriented hot electrons as a means to probe the semiconductor crystal symmetry and its intimate relation with the spin-orbit coupling. The symmetry breaking by reflection manifests itself by tipping the net-spin vector of the photoexcited electrons out of the light propagation direction. The tipping angle and the pointing direction of the net-spin vector are set by the crystal-induced spin precession, momentum alignment, and spin-momentum correlation of the initial photoexcited electron population. We examine nonmagnetic semiconductor heterostructures and semiconductor-ferromagnet systems and show the unique signatures of these effects.
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