Ab initio GW calculations of the time and length of spin relaxation of excited electrons in metals with inclusion of the spin-orbit coupling |
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Authors: | V P Zhukov and E V Chulkov |
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Institution: | 1.Institute of Solid State Chemistry, Ural Branch,Russian Academy of Sciences,Yekaterinburg,Russia;2.Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC),San Sebastian, Basque Country,Spain;3.Departamento de Fizika de Materiales, Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas,UPV/EHU and Centro Mixto CSIC-UPV/EHU,San Sebastian, Basque Country,Spain |
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Abstract: | An ab initio method has been proposed for calculating the spin relaxation time of excited electrons in metals in the framework
of the GW method with inclusion of the spin-orbit coupling. The time and length of spin relaxation in Al, Cu, Au, Nb, and
Ta have been calculated. The concept of the spin-flip phase space has been introduced. It has been demonstrated that the ratio
between the spin relaxation time and the lifetime of the excited electron is well explained within this concept. The time
and length of spin relaxation in Nb appear to be considerably shorter than those in Al, Cu, and Au. These quantities in Ta
are especially small in accordance with the strong spin-orbit coupling. A comparison of the results with the previous data
on the time and length of spin relaxation due to the interaction with impurities and phonons shows that, at an excited electron
energy of the order of 1 eV, the inelastic electron-electron scattering in the presence of spin-orbit coupling is a dominant
mechanism of spin relaxation. |
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