The knowledge of the spin diffusion length $lambda_{A}$ is a prerequisite for the estimation of the spin Hall angle. We investigate spin current absorption of materials with small $lambda_{A}$ using AuW stripes inserted in lateral spin-valves. Width
variations of the AuW stripe lead to drastic changes of the spin absorption, which cannot be explained by conventional analysis. We show that the spin-current polarization and the spin accumulation attenuation in the vicinity of the spin absorber must to be precisely taken into account for accurate estimation of $lambda_{A}$. We propose an analytical model supported by numerical calculations that allows to extract proper $lambda_{A}$ values of spin Hall effect materials.
Using an advanced tight-binding approach, we estimate the anisotropy of the tunnel transmission associated with the rotation of the 5/2 spin of a single Mn atom forming an acceptor state in GaAs and located near an AlGaAs tunnel barrier. Significant
anisotropies in both in-plane and out-of-plane geometries are found, resulting from the combination of the large spin-orbit coupling associated with the p-d exchange interaction, cubic anisotropy of heavy-hole dispersion and the low C2v symmetry of the chemical bonds.
