Spin Relaxation in Asymmetrical Heterostructures.

Electron spin relaxation by the D'yakonov-Perel' mechanism is investigated theoretically in asymmetrical III-V heterostructures. Spin relaxation anisotropy for all three dimensions is demonstrated for a wide range of structural parameters and temperatures. Dependences of spin relaxation rates are obtained both for a GaAs-based heterojunctions and triangular quantum wells. The calculations show a several-ordersof-magnitude difference between spin relaxation times for heterostructure parameters realized in experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]