  Spin relaxation in graphene is investigated in electrical graphene spin valve
devices in the non-local geometry. Ferromagnetic electrodes with in-plane
magnetizations inject spins parallel to the graphene layer. They are subject to
Hanle spin precession under a magnetic field $B$ applied perpendicular to the
graphene layer. Fields above 1.5 T force the magnetization direction of the
ferromagnetic contacts to align to the field, allowing injection of spins
perpendicular to the graphene plane. A comparison of the spin signals at B = 0
and B = 2 T shows a 20 % decrease in spin relaxation time for spins
perpendicular to the graphene layer compared to spins parallel to the layer. We
analyze the results in terms of the different strengths of the spin orbit
effective fields in the in-plane and out-of-plane directions.
