Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 016601 (2010) [4 pages]Theory of the Spin Relaxation of Conduction Electrons in SiliconReceived 22 June 2009; published 4 January 2010 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 T-3 temperature dependence. The valley anisotropy of T1 and the spin relaxation rates for hot electrons are predicted. © 2010 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.016601
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.016601
PACS:
72.25.Rb, 72.25.Dc, 76.30.Pk
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