Variation of Spin Lifetime with Spin Injection Orientation in Strained Thin Silicon Films

Abstract

Spintronics attracts at present much interest because of the potential to build novel spin-based devices which are superior to charge-based microelectronic elements. Silicon, the main element of microelectronics, is promising for spin-driven applications. Understanding the peculiarities of the subband structure and details of spin propagation in thin silicon films in the presence of the spin-orbit interaction is under scrutiny. We show that shear strain has a strong influence in modifying the subband structure and thus can dramatically boost both of the surface roughness and electron-phonon interaction limited spin lifetime in an ultra-thin silicon-on-insulator-based transistor. We also report that a change in the spin injection direction has an impact on the spin lifetime.