Strain-Tunable Spin Relaxation in Germanium from First Principles

Abstract

Germanium is a leading platform for semiconductor spin qubits and spintronics. Yet its electron and hole spin dynamics remain understood primarily through phenomenological models. Here, we predict electronic transport and spin relaxation in bulk Ge entirely from first principles, combining hybrid-functional band structures with fully relativistic electron-phonon ($e$-ph) interactions. Without empirical parameters, we predict carrier mobilities, velocity-field curves, and electron and hole spin relaxation times in close agreement with experiments over 100$-$400 K. By resolving spin-flip scattering by valley and phonon mode, we identify the microscopic mechanisms governing spin relaxation and show that spin and momentum relaxation, although both mediated by $e$-ph scattering, are controlled by distinct processes. We further show that compressive biaxial strain enhances the hole spin lifetime by up to two orders of magnitude at 5% strain, through strain-induced valence-band splitting and suppressed spin mixing. This mechanism is directly relevant to Ge-on-Si devices, where strain provides a practical route to engineering long-lived hole spins for quantum technologies.