Spin-flip relaxation via optical phonon scattering in quantum dots

Based on the spin-orbit coupling admixture mechanism, we theoretically investigate the spin-flip relaxation via optical phonon scattering in quantum dots by considering the effect of lattice relaxation due to the electron-acoustic phonon deformation potential coupling. The relaxation rate displays a cusp-like structure (or a spin hot spot) that becomes more clearly with increasing temperature. We also calculate the relaxation rate of the spin-conserving process, which follows a Gaussian form and is several orders of magnitude larger than that of spin-flip process. Moreover, we find that the relaxation rate displays the oscillatory behavior due to the interplay effects between the magnetic and spatial confinement for the spin-flip process not for the spin-conserving process. The trends of increasing and decreasing temperature dependence of the relaxation rates for two relaxation processes are obtained in the present model