Spin-flip hot spots in ultrathin films of monovalent metals: Enhancement and anisotropy of the Elliott-Yafet parameter

TL;DR

This study reveals the presence of spin-flip hot spots on the surface Brillouin-zone boundary of ultrathin noble metal films, significantly affecting spin relaxation and anisotropy, with implications for spintronics.

Contribution

It demonstrates the emergence of spin-flip hot spots in ultrathin monovalent metal films, a phenomenon absent in their bulk counterparts, using density-functional calculations.

Findings

Hot spots contribute up to 52% to the spin-mixing parameter.

Large anisotropy of the Elliott-Yafet parameter observed, up to 50%.

Significant enhancement of spin-relaxation rate and spin-Hall angle in thin films.

Abstract

In contrast to the long-known fact that spin-flip hot spots, i.e., special \vc{k}-points on the Fermi surface showing a high spin-mixing parameter, do not occur in the bulk of monovalent (noble and alkali) metals, we found them on the surface Brillouin-zone boundary of ultrathin films of these metals. Density-functional calculations within the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker Green function method for ultrathin (001) oriented Cu, Ag, and Au films of 10-layer thickness show that the region around the hot spots can have a substantial contribution, e.g.\ 52\% in Au(001), to the integrated spin-mixing parameter, that could lead to a significant enhancement of the spin-relaxation rate or spin-Hall angle in thin films. Owing to the appearance of spin-flip hot-spots, a large anisotropy of the Elliott-Yafet parameter [50\% for Au(001)] is also found in these systems. The findings are important for spintronics applications in which noble-metals are frequently used and in which the dimensionality of the sample is reduced.