Optical and spin polarization dynamics in GaSe nanoslabs

We report nearly complete preservation of "spin memory" between optical absorption and photoluminescence (PL) in nanometer slabs of GaSe pumped with up to 0.2 eV excess energy. At cryogenic temperatures, the initial degree of circular polarization (ρ₀) of PL approaches unity, with the major fraction of the spin polarization decaying with a time constant >500 ps in sub-100-nm GaSe nanoslabs. Even at room temperature, ρ₀ as large as 0.7 is observed, while pumping 1 eV above the band edge yields ρ₀ = 0.15. Angular momentum preservation for both electrons and holes is due to the separation of the nondegenerate conduction and valence bands from other bands. In contrast to valley polarization in atomically thin transition-metal dichalcogenides, here optical spin polarization is preserved in nanoslabs of 100 layers or more of GaSe.