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The drift of electron spin helices in an external in-plane electric field in GaAs quantum wells is studied by means of time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr microscopy. The evolution of the spin distribution measured for different excitation powers reveals that, for short delay times and higher excitation powers, the spin helix drift slows down while its envelope becomes anisotropic. The effect is understood as a local decrease of the electron gas mobility due to electron collisions with nonequilibrium holes within the excitation spot and is reproduced well in the kinetic theory framework. For larger delay times, when the electrons constituting the spin helix and nonequilibrium holes are separated by an electric field, the spin helix drift accelerates and the mobility reaches its unperturbed value again.

Time-resolved Kerr-rotation microscopy explores the influence of optical doping on the persistent spin helix in a [001]-grown CdTe quantum well at cryogenic temperatures. Electron spin diffusion dynamics reveal a momentum-dependent effective magnetic field providing SU(2) spin-rotation symmetry, consistent with kinetic theory. The Dresselhaus and Rashba spin-orbit coupling parameters are extracted independently from rotating the spin helix with external magnetic fields applied parallel and perpendicular to the effective magnetic field. Most importantly, a non-uniform spatiotemporal precession pattern is observed. The kinetic theory framework of spin diffusion allows for modeling of this finding by incorporating the photocarrier density into the Rashba ($\alpha$) and the Dresselhaus ($\beta_3$) parameters. Corresponding calculations are further validated by an excitation-density dependent measurement. This work shows universality of the persistent spin helix by its observation in a II-VI compound and the ability to fine-tune it by optical doping., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, journal submission

Electron spin transport and dynamics are investigated in a single, high-mobility, modulation-doped, GaAs quantum well using ultrafast two-color Kerr-rotation micro-spectroscopy, supported by qualitative kinetic theory simulations of spin diffusion and transport. Evolution of the spins is governed by the Dresselhaus bulk and Rashba structural inversion asymmetries, which manifest as an effective magnetic field that can be extracted directly from the experimental coherent spin precession. A spin precession length L-SOI is defined as one complete precession in the effective magnetic field. It is observed that application of (a) an out-of-plane electric field changes the spin decay time and L-SOI through the Rashba component of the spin-orbit coupling, (b) an in-plane magnetic field allows for extraction of the Dresselhaus and Rashba parameters, and (c) an in-plane electric field markedly modifies both the L-SOI and diffusion coefficient. While simulations reproduce the main features of the experiments, the latter results exceed the corresponding simulations and extend previous studies of drift-current-dependent spin-orbit interactions., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures