Subband splitting and surface roughness induced spin relaxation in (001) silicon SOI MOSFETs

► We investigate numerically the subband splitting and the surface roughness matrix elements in (001) oriented SOI films. ► We use a generalized perturbativek·p approach to include the spin degree of freedom. ► We demonstrate that shear strain dramatically influences the intersubband spin relaxation matrix elements. Properties of semiconductors provided by the electron spin are of broad interest because of their potential for future spin-driven microelectronic devices. Silicon is the main element of modern charge-based electronics, thus, understanding the details of the spin propagation in silicon structures is key for novel spin-based device application. We use a generalized perturbative k·p approach to take the spin degree of freedom into consideration. We investigate (001) oriented SOI films for various parameters including the film thickness, the band offset, and strain. We demonstrate that shear strain dramatically influences the intersubband spin relaxation matrix elements opening a new opportunity to boost spin lifetime in SOI MOSFETs.