ABSTRACT
The spin of conduction electrons decays due to the combined effect of spin–orbit coupling and momentum scattering. The spin–orbit coupling couples the spin to the electron momentum that is randomized by momentum scattering off of impurities and phonons. Seen from the perspective of the electron spin, the spin–orbit coupling gives a spin precession, while momentum scattering makes this precession randomly fluctuating, both in magnitude and orientation.
