Little is known about the spin-flip diffusion length $l_{ \rm sf}$, one of the most important material parameters in the field of spintronics. We use a density-functional-theory based scattering approach to determine values of $l_{ \rm sf}$ that result from electron-phonon scattering as a function of temperature for all 5d transition metal elements. $l_{ \rm sf}$ does not decrease monotonically with the atomic number Z but is found to be inversely proportional to the density of states at the Fermi level. By using the same local current methodology to calculate the spin Hall angle $\Theta_{ \rm sH}$ that characterizes the efficiency of the spin Hall effect, we show that the products $\rho(T)l_{ \rm sf}(T)$ and $\Theta_{ \rm sH}(T)l_{ \rm sf}(T)$ are constant.
Categories: cond-mat.mes-hall