Eur. Phys. J. B (2014) 87: 104
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2014-50135-0

Regular Article

Electron spin relaxation times by piezoelectric and polar optical phonon scattering in GaAs

Department of Applied Nanoscience, Pusan National University, 627-706 Miryang, Republic of Korea

^a e-mail: nlkang@pusan.ac.kr

Received: 28 February 2014
Received in final form: 24 March 2014
Published online: 5 May 2014

Abstract

The electron spin relaxation times by piezoelectric and polar optical phonon scattering in GaAs are calculated using the formula derived from the projection-reduction method. The temperature, magnetic field, and electron density dependences of the relaxation time are investigated. The electrons are found to be scattered mostly by piezoelectric phonons at low temperatures and polar optical phonons at high temperatures. The electron density affects the magnetic field dependence of the relaxation time at low temperatures but have only slight affects at high temperatures.