High temperature gate control of quantum well spin memory

Time-resolved optical measurements in (110)-oriented GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells show a tenfold increase of the spin-relaxation rate as a function of applied electric field from 20 to 80 kV cm(-1) at 170 K and indicate a similar variation at 300 K, in agreement with calculations based on the Rashba effect. Spin relaxation is almost field independent below 20 kV cm(-1) reflecting quantum well interface asymmetry. The results indicate the achievability of a voltage-gateable spin-memory time longer than 3 ns simultaneously with a high electron mobility.