Electric field dependence of spin coherence in (001) GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

Conduction electron spin lifetimes ($T_1$) and spin coherence times ($T_2$) are strongly modified in semiconductor quantum wells by electric fields. Quantitative calculations in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells at room temperature show roughly a factor of four enhancement in the spin lifetimes at optimal values of the electric fields. The much smaller enhancement compared to previous calculations is due to overestimates of the zero-field spin lifetime and the importance of nonlinear effects.