Direct measurement of spin-flip rates in single-electron tunneling

Spin-flips are one of the limiting factors for spin-based information processing. We demonstrate a transport approach for determining the spin-flip rates of a self-assembled InAs double quantum dot. In such devices, different Land\'e factors lead to an inhomogeneous Zeeman splitting, so that the two spin channels can never be at resonance simultaneously, leading to a spin blockade at low temperatures. This blockade is analyzed in terms of spin flips for different temperatures and magnetic fields. Our results are in good agreement with a quantum master equation that combines the dot-lead couplings with an ohmic spin-boson model for the dissipative spin dynamics.