Spin relaxation in strained n-type silicon

The impurity-induced spin-relaxation mechanism in heavily doped n-type silicon has been recently reported in Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{113}, 167201. The leading contribution to the spin-relaxation rate occurs due to electron transitions between momentum-space valleys that reside on different crystallographic axes (the so-called f-process). This spin relaxation mechanism can be suppressed by applying uniaxial compressive strain that lifts the valley degeneracy. By calculating the next-order contribution to the spin-relaxation rate due to intravalley scattering and intervalley scattering between opposite valleys (the so-called g-process), we find a significant enhancement of the spin lifetime.