Long spin relaxation times in wafer scale epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001)

T. Maassen, J. J. van den Berg, N. IJbema, F. Fromm, T. Seyller, R. Yakimova, B. J. van Wees

Published 2012-02-14Version 1

We developed an easy, upscalable process to prepare lateral spin-valve devices on epitaxially grown monolayer graphene on SiC(0001) and perform nonlocal spin transport measurements. We observe the longest spin relaxation times tau_S in monolayer graphene, while the spin diffusion coefficient D_S is strongly reduced compared to typical results on exfoliated graphene. The increase of tau_S is probably related to the changed substrate, while the cause for the small value of D_S remains an open question.