Substrate effects on spin relaxation in two-dimensional Dirac materials with strong spin-orbit coupling
Abstract Understanding substrate effects on spin dynamics and relaxation is of key importance for spin-based information technologies. However, the key factors that determine such effects, in particular for materials with strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC), have not been well understood. Here we perfo...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2023-03-01
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| Series: | npj Computational Materials |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41524-023-00992-y |
| _version_ | 1797853658484834304 |
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| author | Junqing Xu Yuan Ping |
| author_facet | Junqing Xu Yuan Ping |
| author_sort | Junqing Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Understanding substrate effects on spin dynamics and relaxation is of key importance for spin-based information technologies. However, the key factors that determine such effects, in particular for materials with strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC), have not been well understood. Here we performed first-principles real-time density-matrix dynamics simulations with SOC and the electron-phonon and electron-impurity scattering for spin lifetimes (τ s ) of supported/free-standing germanene, a prototypical strong SOC 2D Dirac material. We show that the effects of different substrates on τ s can surprisingly differ by two orders of magnitude. We find that substrate effects on τ s are closely related to substrate-induced modifications of the SOC-field anisotropy, which changes the spin-flip scattering matrix elements. We propose a new electronic quantity, named spin-flip angle θ ↑ ↓ , to characterize spin relaxation through intervalley spin-flip scattering. We find that $${\tau }_{s}^{-1}$$ τ s − 1 is approximately proportional to the averaged value of $${\sin }^{2}\left({\theta }^{\uparrow \downarrow }/2\right)$$ sin 2 θ ↑ ↓ / 2 , which serves as a guiding parameter of controlling spin relaxation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:54:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-79d348b6aaad45c08325efb81b45c539 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2057-3960 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:54:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Computational Materials |
| spelling | doaj.art-79d348b6aaad45c08325efb81b45c5392023-04-03T05:34:00ZengNature Portfolionpj Computational Materials2057-39602023-03-019111010.1038/s41524-023-00992-ySubstrate effects on spin relaxation in two-dimensional Dirac materials with strong spin-orbit couplingJunqing Xu0Yuan Ping1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of CaliforniaDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of CaliforniaAbstract Understanding substrate effects on spin dynamics and relaxation is of key importance for spin-based information technologies. However, the key factors that determine such effects, in particular for materials with strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC), have not been well understood. Here we performed first-principles real-time density-matrix dynamics simulations with SOC and the electron-phonon and electron-impurity scattering for spin lifetimes (τ s ) of supported/free-standing germanene, a prototypical strong SOC 2D Dirac material. We show that the effects of different substrates on τ s can surprisingly differ by two orders of magnitude. We find that substrate effects on τ s are closely related to substrate-induced modifications of the SOC-field anisotropy, which changes the spin-flip scattering matrix elements. We propose a new electronic quantity, named spin-flip angle θ ↑ ↓ , to characterize spin relaxation through intervalley spin-flip scattering. We find that $${\tau }_{s}^{-1}$$ τ s − 1 is approximately proportional to the averaged value of $${\sin }^{2}\left({\theta }^{\uparrow \downarrow }/2\right)$$ sin 2 θ ↑ ↓ / 2 , which serves as a guiding parameter of controlling spin relaxation.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41524-023-00992-y |
| spellingShingle | Junqing Xu Yuan Ping Substrate effects on spin relaxation in two-dimensional Dirac materials with strong spin-orbit coupling npj Computational Materials |
| title | Substrate effects on spin relaxation in two-dimensional Dirac materials with strong spin-orbit coupling |
| title_full | Substrate effects on spin relaxation in two-dimensional Dirac materials with strong spin-orbit coupling |
| title_fullStr | Substrate effects on spin relaxation in two-dimensional Dirac materials with strong spin-orbit coupling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Substrate effects on spin relaxation in two-dimensional Dirac materials with strong spin-orbit coupling |
| title_short | Substrate effects on spin relaxation in two-dimensional Dirac materials with strong spin-orbit coupling |
| title_sort | substrate effects on spin relaxation in two dimensional dirac materials with strong spin orbit coupling |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41524-023-00992-y |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT junqingxu substrateeffectsonspinrelaxationintwodimensionaldiracmaterialswithstrongspinorbitcoupling AT yuanping substrateeffectsonspinrelaxationintwodimensionaldiracmaterialswithstrongspinorbitcoupling |