Gyromagnetic Quantum Friction in Rayleigh Vorticity Baths

TL;DR

This paper uncovers a zero-temperature relaxation mechanism for near-surface spins caused by Rayleigh-wave vorticity, enabling new quantum sensing and interface applications without thermal phonons.

Contribution

It introduces a novel surface-mode relaxation channel driven by Rayleigh vorticity, independent of thermal phonons, and characterizes its field and depth dependencies.

Findings

Identifies a zero-temperature relaxation channel for surface spins.

Shows the bath is super-Ohmic and evanescent with depth.

Proposes applications in quantum sensing and surface-acoustic-wave interfaces.

Abstract

We identify an intrinsic zero-temperature relaxation channel for near-surface spins gyromagnetically coupled to Rayleigh-wave vorticity. This surface-mode contribution requires no thermal phonons, unlike Raman relaxation, and is fixed by Rayleigh vorticity rather than material-specific $g$-factor modulation. The Rayleigh-vorticity bath is super-Ohmic and evanescent with depth, producing field and depth scalings of spin relaxation. These scalings establish shallow spin sensors and hybrid surface-acoustic-wave spin interfaces as detectors of Rayleigh-wave acoustic quantum friction in solids.