Consistent description of room-temperature electron spin relaxation in GaAs/AlGaAs (001) quantum wells
Abstract
Spin relaxation of two-dimensional electrons in GaAs/AlGaAs (001) quantum wells (QWs) has been widely studied and is generally governed by the D'yakonov–Perel' (DP) mechanism at room temperature, yet the reported electron spin relaxation times and the Dresselhaus spin–orbit coupling constant, γD, remain quantitatively inconsistent. Here, we present a unified quantitative interpretation of room-temperature DP spin relaxation using γD=8.8 eVÅ3, identical to the value for bulk GaAs. We show that the previously reported more-than-twofold variation in the quantization-energy dependence of the spin relaxation time originates primarily from the electron-density dependence of electron–electron scattering. Our results resolve a long-standing ambiguity in room-temperature electron spin relaxation in (001) QWs and provide a reliable basis for quantitative modeling of semiconductor spintronic devices.
Article Details
Journal Info
Applied Physics Letters
American Institute of Physics
Authors (6)
Yoma Tojo
Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba 1 , 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573,
Shunsuke Yoshida
Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba 1 , 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573,
Fuminari Tsuboi
Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba 1 , 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573,
Taiyo Yamamoto
Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba 1 , 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573,
Satoshi Iba
Research Institute for Hybrid Functional Integration, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) 2 , Umezono 1-1-1, Central 2, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568,
Yuzo Ohno
Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba 1 , 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573,