P-shell carriers assisted dynamic nuclear spin polarization in single   quantum dots at zero external magnetic field
  Repeated injection of spin polarized carriers in a quantum dot leads to the polarization of nuclear spins, a process known as dynamic nuclear spin polarization (DNP). Here, we report the first observation of p-shell carrier assisted DNP in single QDs at zero external magnetic field. The nuclear field - measured by using the Overhauser shift of the singly charged exciton state of the QDs - continues to increase, even after the carrier population in the s-shell saturates. This is also accompanied by an abrupt increase in nuclear spin buildup time as p-shell emission overtakes that of the s-shell. We attribute the observation to p-shell electrons strongly altering the nuclear spin dynamics in the QD, supported by numerical simulation results based on a rate equation model of coupling between electron and nuclear spin system. DNP with p-shell carriers could open up avenues for further control to increase the degree of nuclear spin polarization in QDs. 
C. F. Fong, Y. Ota, E. Harbord, S. Iwamoto, Y. Arakawa
cond-mat.mes-hall