Influence of Impurity Spin Dynamics on Quantum Transport in Epitaxial Graphene

Experimental evidence from both spin-valve and quantum transport measurements points towards unexpectedly fast spin relaxation in graphene. We report magnetotransport studies of epitaxial graphene on SiC in a vector magnetic field showing that spin relaxation, detected using weak-localization analys...

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Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 115; no. 10; p. 106602
Main Authors Lara-Avila, Samuel, Kubatkin, Sergey, Kashuba, Oleksiy, Folk, Joshua A, Lüscher, Silvia, Yakimova, Rositza, Janssen, T J B M, Tzalenchuk, Alexander, Fal'ko, Vladimir
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 04.09.2015
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Summary:Experimental evidence from both spin-valve and quantum transport measurements points towards unexpectedly fast spin relaxation in graphene. We report magnetotransport studies of epitaxial graphene on SiC in a vector magnetic field showing that spin relaxation, detected using weak-localization analysis, is suppressed by an in-plane magnetic field B(∥), and thereby proving that it is caused at least in part by spinful scatterers. A nonmonotonic dependence of the effective decoherence rate on B(∥) reveals the intricate role of the scatterers' spin dynamics in forming the interference correction to the conductivity, an effect that has gone unnoticed in earlier weak localization studies.
ISSN:1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.106602