Spin relaxation in the presence of crossed electric and magnetic fields: A quasiclassical approach

A simple method for the investigation of spin relaxation phenomena in systems with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions is developed. The method is applied to the investigation of the impact of external fields on the relaxation process. The calculation shows that the spin relaxation is strongly affected by a lateral electric field. The field enhances the lifetime of the magnetization and leads to an additional rotation of the magnetization. This field-induced rotation can be affected further by means of magnetic fields. We study the dependence of the field-induced rotation on the structure of the spin-orbit scattering and on the strength of the applied magnetic field.