Anisotropic spin-orbit scattering of hot-electron spins injected into ferromagnetic thin-films - art. no. 166601

Anisotropic spin-orbit scattering of hot-electron spins in ferromagnets is examined by injecting a hot-electron current into the thin ferromagnetic ba se of a transistor and measuring the current attenuation as a function of t he magnetization orientation. The transmission anisotropy is described by a simple model, from which we extract an effective spin-orbit scattering len gth of 420 nm for hot-electron spins in Ni80Fe20, independent of temperatur e. The corresponding scattering time (<0.3 ps) is surprisingly short, sugge sting efficient spin-lattice relaxation of hot electrons. The results also unambiguously demonstrate the attenuation of a hot-electron current by an e lastic scattering process.