RESUMEN
A unique spin depolarization mechanism, induced by the presence of g-factor anisotropy and intervalley scattering, is revealed by spin-transport measurements on long-distance germanium devices in a magnetic field longitudinal to the initial spin orientation. The confluence of electron-phonon scattering (leading to Elliott-Yafet spin flips) and this previously unobserved physics enables the extraction of spin lifetime solely from spin-valve measurements, without spin precession, and in a regime of substantial electric-field-generated carrier heating. We find spin lifetimes in Ge up to several hundreds of nanoseconds at low temperature, far beyond any other available experimental results.
RESUMEN
We derive a spin-dependent Hamiltonian that captures the symmetry of the zone edge states in silicon. We present analytical expressions of the spin-dependent states and of spin relaxation due to electron-phonon interactions in the multivalley conduction band. We find excellent agreement with experimental results. Similar to the usage of the Kane Hamiltonian in direct band-gap semiconductors, the new Hamiltonian can be used to study spin properties of electrons in silicon.
RESUMEN
Silicon is an ideal material choice for spintronics devices due to its relatively long spin relaxation time and mature technology. To date, however, there are no parameter-free methods to accurately determine the degree of spin polarization of electrons in silicon. This missing link is established with a theory that provides concise relations between the degrees of spin polarization and measured circular polarization for each of the dominant phonon-assisted optical transitions. The phonon symmetries play a key role in elucidating recent spin injection experiments in silicon.