Spin relaxation of conduction electrons

Prospect of building electronic devices in which electron spins store and transport information has revived interest in the spin relaxation of conduction electrons. Since spin-polarized currents cannot flow indefinitely, basic spin-electronic devices must be smaller than the distance electrons diffuse without losing its spin memory. Some recent experimental and theoretical effort has been devoted to the issue of modulating the spin relaxation. It has been shown, for example, that in certain materials doping, alloying, or changing dimensionality can reduce or enhance the spin relaxation by several orders of magnitude. This brief review presents these efforts in the perspective of the current understanding of the spin relaxation of conduction electrons in nonmagnetic semiconductors and metals. (C) 1999 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-211X(99)03604-5].