  The exciton spin dynamics and polarization properties of the related emission
are investigated in colloidal CdSe/CdS dot-in-rod (DiR) and spherical
core/shell nanocrystal (NC) ensembles by magneto-optical photoluminescence (PL)
spectroscopy in magnetic fields up to 15 T. It is shown that the degree of
circular polarization (DCP) of the exciton emission induced by the magnetic
field is affected by the NC geometry as well as the exciton fine structure and
can provide information on nanorod orientation. A theory to describe the
circular and linear polarization properties of the NC emission in magnetic
field is developed. It takes into account phonon mediated coupling between the
exciton fine structure states as well as the dielectric enhancement effect
resulting from the anisotropic shell of DiR NCs. This theoretical approach is
used to model the experimental results and allows us to explain most of the
measured features. The spin dynamics of the dark excitons is investigated in
magnetic fields by time-resolved photoluminescence. The results highlight the
importance of confined acoustic phonons in the spin relaxation of dark
excitons. The bare core surface as well as the core/shell interface give rise
to an efficient spin relaxation channel, while the surface of core/shell NCs
seems to play only a minor role.
