2011/01/31 by Martin Raith, Peter Stano, Jaroslav Fabian · 2 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advancements in Semiconductor Devices and Circuit Design #Anisotropy #Condensed matter physics #Electron #Magnetic field #Optics #Phonon #Physics #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum dot #Quantum mechanics #Relaxation (psychology) #Semiconductor materials and devices #Spin (aerodynamics) #Transverse plane #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.83.195318
published as Phys. Rev. B 83, 195318 (2011) · 10 pages, 9 figures
arxiv created 2011/04/26 · openalex publication_date 2011/05/13 · arxiv updated 2015/03/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We investigate the spin relaxation induced by acoustic phonons in the presence of spin-orbit interactions in single electron Si/SiGe lateral coupled quantum dots. The relaxation rates are computed numerically in single and double quantum dots, in in-plane and perpendicular magnetic fields. The deformation potential of acoustic phonons is taken into account for both transverse and longitudinal polarizations, and their contributions to the total relaxation rate are discussed with respect to the dilatation and shear potential constants. We find that in single dots the spin relaxation rate scales approximately with the seventh power of the magnetic field, in line with a recent experiment. In double dots the relaxation rate is much more sensitive to the dot spectrum structure, as it is often dominated by a spin hot spot. The anisotropy of the spin-orbit interactions gives rise to easy passages, special directions of the magnetic field for which the relaxation is strongly suppressed. Quantitatively, the spin relaxation rates in Si are typically two orders of magnitude smaller than in GaAs due to the absence of the piezoelectric phonon potential and generally weaker spin-orbit interactions.