Phonon-induced spin relaxation of conduction electrons in aluminum

Abstract

Spin-flip Eliashberg function $α_S^2F$ and temperature-dependent spin relaxation time $T_1(T)$ are calculated for aluminum using realistic pseudopotentials. The spin-flip electron-phonon coupling constant $λ_S$ is found to be $2.5\times 10^{-5}$. The calculations agree with experiments validating the Elliott-Yafet theory and the spin-hot-spot picture of spin relaxation for polyvalent metals.