Spin relaxation length for medium energy electrons in Pd and LiF ultrathin films

Abstract

The development of spintronics, the field of science that examines the behavior of systems, based not only on charge transfer, but on magnetic properties of nano-objects as well, requires studying various magnetic and electrical properties of nanoscale systems. To create a new device, it is often important to know a length of spin relaxation not only for electrons with energies close to the Fermi surface, but also with energies of several hundred eV. In this paper we compare results from the spin relaxation length measurements in Pd and LiF. To measure spin-relaxation length for electrons within energy range 35–550 eV spin-polarized secondary electron spectroscopy was used. Experimental results allow us to estimate the influence of the electron–electron and spin-orbit interactions in the processes of electron polarization loss. Values of spin relaxation lengths were measured at room temperature and lie in the range from 18 to 27 Å for Pd and from 70 to 230 Å for LiF.