Abstract
A realistic pseudopotential model is introduced to investigate the phonon-induced spin relaxation of conduction electrons in bulk silicon. We find a surprisingly subtle interference of the Elliott and Yafet processes affecting the spin relaxation over a wide temperature range, suppressing the significance of the intravalley spin-flip scattering, previously considered dominant, above roughly 120 K. The calculated spin relaxation times agree with the spin resonance and spin injection data, following a temperature dependence. The valley anisotropy of and the spin relaxation rates for hot electrons are predicted.
- Received 22 June 2009
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.016601
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