Spin Relaxation in Materials Lacking Coherent Charge Transport

Abstract

We describe a broadly-applicable theory of spin relaxation in materials with incoherent charge transport; examples include amorphous inorganic semiconductors, organic semiconductors, quantum dot arrays, and systems displaying trap-controlled transport or transport within an impurity band. The theory can incorporate many different relaxation mechanisms, so long as electron-electron correlations can be neglected. We focus primarily on spin relaxation caused by spin-orbit effects, which manifest through inhomogeneities in the $g$-factor and non-spin-conserving carrier hops, scattering, trapping, or detrapping. Analytic and numerical results from the theory are compared in various regimes with Monte Carlo simulations. Our results should assist in evaluating the suitability of various disordered materials for spintronic devices.

arXiv comment11 pages, 8 figures

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• Active processes in one dimension
• Hyperfine-induced spin relaxation of a diffusively moving carrier in low dimensions: implications for spin transport in organic semiconductors
• Anisotropic spin relaxation in $n$-GaAs from strong inhomogeneous hyperfine fields produced by the dynamical polarization of nuclei
• Spectral narrowing and spin echo for localized carriers with heavy-tailed Levy distribution of hopping times
• Exchange-driven spin relaxation in ferromagnet/oxide/semiconductor heterostructures
• Room temperature magneto-optic effect in silicon light-emitting diodes
• Synthesis of thin silicon dioxide layers with high E' center densities and investigation of the E' center spin relaxation dynamics for single spin readout applications
• Quantum dynamics of nuclear spins and spin relaxation in organic semiconductors
• Polaron spin echo envelope modulations in an organic semiconducting polymer