  Spin relaxation of conduction electrons in metals is significantly influenced
by the Fermi surface topology. Electrons near Brillouin zone boundaries,
special symmetry points, or accidental degeneracy lines have spin flip rates
much higher than an average electron. A realistic calculation and analytical
estimates show that these regions dominate the spin relaxation, explaining why
polyvalent metals have much higher spin relaxation rates (up to three orders of
magnitude) than similar monovalent metals. This suggests that spin relaxation
in metals can be tailored by band-structure modifications like doping,
alloying, reducing the dimensionality, etc.
