2017/09/13 by Chao Zhou, Fatih Kandaz, Yunjiao Cai +5
Chemistry · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Anisotropy #Chemistry #Condensed matter physics #Electron #Ferromagnetism #Isotropy #Magnetic properties of thin films #Materials science #Mesoscopic physics #Optics #Physics #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum mechanics #Relaxation (psychology) #Semiconductor materials and devices #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spin Hall effect #Spin diffusion #Spin polarization #Spins #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.96.094413
published as Phys. Rev. B 96, 094413 (2017) · (#) C. Zhou and F. Kandaz contributed equally to this work. Main text (22 pages, 4 figures) + Supplementary material (9 pages, 3 figures)
openalex publication_date 2017/09/13 · arxiv created 2017/09/21 · arxiv updated 2017/09/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
It is a common perception that the transport of a spin current in polycrystalline metal is isotropic and independent of the polarization direction, even though spin current is a tensorlike quantity and its polarization direction is a key variable. We demonstrate surprising anisotropic spin relaxation in mesoscopic polycrystalline Cu channels in nonlocal spin valves. For directions in the substrate plane, the spin-relaxation length is longer for spins parallel to the Cu channel than for spins perpendicular to it, by as much as 9% at 10 K. Spin-orbit effects on the surfaces of Cu channels can account for this anisotropic spin relaxation. The finding suggests novel tunability of spin current, not only by its polarization direction but also by electrostatic gating.