Electron spin relaxation in semiconducting carbon nanotubes: the role of hyperfine interaction

The carbon isotope $^{13}$C, in contrast to $^{12}$C, possesses a nuclear magnetic moment and can induce electron spin dephasing in graphene. This effect is usually neglected due to the low abundance of $^{13}$C in natural carbon allotropes ($\sim$1 %). Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) allows for artificial synthesis of graphene solely from a $^{13}$C precursor, potentially amplifying the influence of the nuclear magnetic moments. In this work we study the effect of hyperfine ...

We report 13C nuclear magnetic resonance measurements on single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) bundles. The temperature dependence of the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate, 1/T1, exhibits a power-law variation, as expected for a Tomonage-Luttinger liquid (TLL). The observed exponent is smaller than that expected for the two band TLL model. A departure from the power law is observed only at low T, where thermal and electronic Zeeman energy merge. Extrapolation to zero magneti...

A theoretical description of ESR in 1D interacting metals is given, with primary emphasis on carbon nanotubes. The spin-orbit coupling is derived, and the resulting ESR spectrum is analyzed by field theory and exact diagonalization. Drastic differences in the ESR spectra of single-wall and multi-wall nanotubes are found. For single-wall tubes, the predicted double peak spectrum could reveal spin-charge separation.

Recent NMR experiments by Singer et al. [Singer et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 236403 (2005).] showed a deviation from Fermi-liquid behavior in carbon nanotubes with an energy gap evident at low temperatures. Here, a comprehensive theory for the magnetic field and temperature dependent NMR 13C spin-lattice relaxation is given in the framework of the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid. The low temperature properties are governed by a gapped relaxation due to a spin gap (~ 30K), which cros...

We study spin relaxation and decoherence caused by electron-lattice and spin-orbit interaction and predict striking effects induced by magnetic fields $B$. For particular values of $B$, destructive interference occurs resulting in ultralong spin relaxation times $T_1$ exceeding tens of seconds. For small phonon frequencies $\omega$, we find a $1/\sqrt{\omega}$ spin-phonon noise spectrum -- a novel dissipation channel for spins in quantum dots -- which can reduce $T_1$ by many...

Hyperfine interactions, magnetic interactions between the spins of electrons and nuclei, in graphene and related carbon nanostructures are studied. By using a combination of accurate first principles calculations on graphene fragments and statistical analysis, I show that both isotropic and dipolar hyperfine interactions can be accurately described in terms of the local electron spin distribution and atomic structure. A complete set of parameters describing the hyperfine inte...

Carbon nanotubes bridge the molecular and crystalline quantum worlds, and their extraordinary electronic, mechanical and optical properties have attracted enormous attention from a broad scientific community. We review the basic principles of fabricating spin-electronic devices based on individual, electrically-gated carbon nanotubes, and present experimental efforts to understand their electronic and nuclear spin degrees of freedom, which in the future may enable quantum app...

The current/voltage curve of metallic carbon nanotubes (CNTs) displays at high bias a sudden increase of the resistivity due to the scattering of electrons with phonons having an anomalously-high population (hot phonons). Here, we show that it is possible to improve the electrical performances of metallic CNTs by C13 isotope enrichment. In fact, isotopic disorder creates additional channels for the hot-phonon deexcitation, reduces their population and, thus, the nanotube high...

We consider theoretically ${}^{13}$C-hyperfine interaction induced dephasing in carbon nanotubes double quantum dots with curvature induced spin-orbit coupling. For two electrons initially occupying a single dot, we calculate the average return probability after separation into the two dots, which have random nuclear-spin configurations. We focus on the long time saturation value of the return probability, $P_\infty$. Because of the valley degree of freedom, the analysis is m...

Nano engineered spin degree of freedom in carbon system may offer desired exchange coupling with optimum spin orbit interaction which is essential, to construct solid state qubits, for fault tolerant quantum computation. The purpose of this communication is to analyze spin dynamics of, basically, four types of systems, (i) Graphene (system with inversion symmetry), (ii) Graphene like nanocarbons (GNCs, broken inversion symmetry and heterostructure, sp2 and sp3, environment), ...