Saturation of Spin-Polarized Current in Nanometer Scale Aluminum Grains
arXiv:cond-mat/0703139 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.76.195327
Abstract
We describe measurements of spin-polarized tunnelling via discrete energy levels of single Aluminum grains. In high resistance samples (), the spin-polarized tunnelling current rapidly saturates as a function of the bias voltage. This indicates that spin-polarized current is carried only via the ground state and the few lowest in energy excited states of the grain. At the saturation voltage, the spin-relaxation rate of the highest excited states is comparable to the electron tunnelling rate: and in two samples. The ratio of to the electron-phonon relaxation rate is in agreement with the Elliot-Yafet scaling, an evidence that spin-relaxation in Al grains is governed by the spin-orbit interaction.
arXiv comment5 pages, 4 figures
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