Manipulation of the Spin Memory of Electrons inn-GaAs

We report on the optical manipulation of the electron spin relaxation time in a GaAs-based heterostructure. Experimental and theoretical study shows that the average electron spin relaxes through hyperfine interaction with the lattice nuclei, and that the rate can be controlled by electron-electron interactions. This time has been changed from 300 ns down to 5 ns by variation of the laser frequency. This modification originates in the optically induced depletion of an $n$-GaAs layer.