Anisotropic spin-orbit scattering of hot-electron spins injected into ferromagnetic thin-films.
Anisotropic spin-orbit scattering of hot-electron spins in ferromagnets is examined by injecting a hot-electron current into the thin ferromagnetic base of a transistor and measuring the current attenuation as a function of the magnetization orientation. The transmission anisotropy is described by a simple model, from which we extract an effective spin-orbit scattering length of 420 nm for hot-electron spins in Ni(80)Fe(20), independent of temperature. The corresponding scattering time (<0.3 ps) is surprisingly short, suggesting efficient spin-lattice relaxation of hot electrons. The results also unambiguously demonstrate the attenuation of a hot-electron current by an elastic scattering process.
Jansen
R
R
Information Storage Technology Group, MESA+ Research Institute, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
Kim
S D
SD
Vlutters
R
R
van't Erve
O M
OM
Lodder
J C
JC