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Science 29 June 2001:
Vol. 292. no. 5526, pp. 2458 - 2461
DOI: 10.1126/science.1061169
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Reports

Ultrafast Manipulation of Electron Spin Coherence

J. A. Gupta,1 R. Knobel,2 N. Samarth,2 D. D. Awschalom1*

A technique is developed with the potential for coherent all-optical control over electron spins in semiconductors on femtosecond time scales. The experiments show that optical "tipping" pulses can enact substantial rotations of electron spins through a mechanism dependent on the optical Stark effect. These rotations were measured as changes in the amplitude of spin precession after optical excitation in a transverse magnetic field and approach pi /2 radians. A prototype sequence of two tipping pulses indicates that the rotation is reversible, a result that establishes the coherent nature of the tipping process.

1 Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
2 Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: awsch{at}physics.ucsb.edu

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