Picosecond kinetics of polarized resonant photoluminescence ͑PL͒ of HH excitons in the GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices is studied in an external magnetic field. The measurements were made in real time using a streak camera. For the magnetic field aligned along the heterostructure growth direction, the resonant PL exhibits oscillations in the degree of linear polarization. The oscillations are ascribed to quantum beats between sublevels of the optically active excitonic doublet split by the magnetic

more »

... eld. For the magnetic field aligned along the plane of the layers, the resonant PL is found to exhibit oscillations in circular polarization. These oscillations are related to beats between states of the optically active and optically inactive excitonic doublets. Experimental dependence of the oscillation frequency on the magnetic field strength and orientation has allowed us to determine the hole and electron g factors and the electron-hole exchange energy. Dynamics of the degree of circular polarization of the PL in magnetic field is used to measure the energy relaxation rate of the exciton spin states. In the magnetic field exceeding 1 T, the energy relaxation rate is shown to be magnetic-field independent and equal (1Ϯ0.2)ϫ10 10 s Ϫ1 . This value is found to be much smaller than the spin phase relaxation rate determined from decay of the quantum beats in linear polarization. Unlike the energy relaxation rate, the latter grows linearly with the field strength and equals (5Ϯ0.5)ϫ10 10 s Ϫ1 at 5 T. It is concluded that the main mechanism responsible for loss of macroscopic spin coherence is the reversible dephasing within inhomogeneously broadened system.