Spin relaxation of electrons and holes in zinc-blende semiconductors

Z. G. Yu, S. Krishnamurthy, Mark Van Schilfgaarde, Nathan Newman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

We develop a procedure to calculate spin relaxation times of electrons and holes in semiconductors using full band structures. The spin-orbit (SO) interaction is included in the unperturbed Hamiltonian. With the use of spin projection operators, we calculate electron and hole spin relaxation from both Elliott-Yafet and D'yakonov-Perel' mechanisms, and quantitatively explain measurements of GaAs. The predicted relaxation times of GaN are longer for electrons, but shorter for holes. We find that the valence band SO splitting at the zone center is not a good indicator of SO coupling for electrons.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number245312
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume71
Issue number24
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 15 2005

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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