Intrinsic spin lifetime of conduction electrons in germanium

Abstract

We investigate the intrinsic spin relaxation of conduction electrons in germanium due to electron-phonon scattering. We derive intravalley and intervalley spin-flip matrix elements for a general spin orientation and quantify the resulting anisotropy in spin relaxation. The form of the intravalley spin-flip matrix element is derived from the eigenstates of a compact spin-dependent $\mathbf{k}$$\cdot$$\mathbf{p}$ Hamiltonian in the vicinity of the $L$ point (where thermal electrons are populated in Ge). Spin lifetimes from analytical integrations of the intravalley and intervalley matrix elements show excellent agreement with independent results from elaborate numerical methods.