Direct observation of nuclear field fluctuations in single quantum dots

The spin interaction between an electron and nuclei was investigated optically in a single self-assembled InAlAs quantum dot (QD). In spin dynamics at the initial stage, the fluctuation of nuclear field and the resulting electron spin relaxation time play a crucial role. We examined a positively charged exciton in a QD to evaluate the key physical quantities directly via the temporal evolution measurements of the Overhauser shift and the degree of circular polarization. In addition, the validity of our used spin dynamics model was discussed in the context of the experimentally obtained key parameters.