Abstract
We theoretically investigate spin dynamics in spin-orbit-coupled materials. In the ballistic limit, the spin lifetime is dictated by dephasing that arises from energy broadening plus a nonuniform spin precession. For the case of clean graphene, we find a strong anisotropy with spin lifetimes that can be short even for modest energy scales, on the order of a few ns. These results offer deeper insight into the nature of spin dynamics in graphene, and are also applicable to the investigation of other systems where spin-orbit coupling plays an important role.
- Received 23 July 2015
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.086602
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