Generalized Elliott-Yafet theory of electron spin relaxation in metals: origin of the anomalous electron spin lifetime in MgB2

The temperature dependence of the electron-spin relaxation time in MgB2 is anomalous as it does not follow the resistivity above 150 K; it has a maximum around 400 K and decreases for higher temperatures. This violates the well established Elliot-Yafet theory of spin relaxation in metals. The anomal...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Physical review letters Vol. 101; no. 17; p. 177003
Main Authors:	Simon, F, Dóra, B, Murányi, F, Jánossy, A, Garaj, S, Forró, L, Bud'ko, S, Petrovic, C, Canfield, P C
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States 24.10.2008
ISSN:	0031-9007
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	The temperature dependence of the electron-spin relaxation time in MgB2 is anomalous as it does not follow the resistivity above 150 K; it has a maximum around 400 K and decreases for higher temperatures. This violates the well established Elliot-Yafet theory of spin relaxation in metals. The anomaly occurs when the quasiparticle scattering rate (in energy units) is comparable to the energy difference between the conduction and a neighboring bands. The anomalous behavior is related to the unique band structure of MgB2 and the large electron-phonon coupling. The saturating spin relaxation is the spin transport analogue of the Ioffe-Regel criterion of electron transport.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0031-9007
DOI:	10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.177003