Theory of the Spin Relaxation of Conduction Electrons in Silicon

J. L. Cheng, M. W. Wu, and J. Fabian
Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 016601 – Published 4 January 2010
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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 T1 agree with the spin resonance and spin injection data, following a T3 temperature dependence. The valley anisotropy of T1 and the spin relaxation rates for hot electrons are predicted.

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  • Received 22 June 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.016601

©2010 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

J. L. Cheng1,2, M. W. Wu1, and J. Fabian2,*

  • 1Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
  • 2Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany

  • *To whom correspondence should be addressed. jaroslav.fabian@physik.uni-regensburg.de

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Issue

Vol. 104, Iss. 1 — 8 January 2010

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