Time-resolved lateral spin-caloric transport of optically generated spin packets in n-GaAs

We report on lateral spin-caloric transport (LSCT) of electron spin packets which are optically generated by ps laser pulses in the non-magnetic semiconductor n-GaAs at T >= 35 K. LSCT is driven by a local temperature gradient induced by an additional cw heating laser. The spatio-temporal evolution of the spin packets is probed using time-resolved Faraday rotation. We demonstrate that the local temperature-gradient induced spin diffusion is solely driven by a non-equilibrium hot spin distribution, i.e. without involvement of phonon drag effects. Additional electric field-driven spin drift experiments are used to verify directly the validity of the non-classical Einstein relation for moderately doped semiconductors at low temperatures for near band-gap excitation.