Optical Transient-Grating Measurements of Spin Diffusion and Relaxation in a Two-Dimensional Electron Gas

Spin diffusion in n-GaAs quantum wells, as measured by our optical transient-grating technique, is strongly suppressed relative to that of charge. Over a broad range of temperatures and dopings, the suppression of Ds relative to Dc agrees quantitatively with the prediction of "spin Coulomb dra" theory, which takes into account the exchange of spin in electron-electron collisions. Moreover, the spin-diffusion length, Ls, is a nearly constant 1 micrometer over the same range of T and n, despite Ds's varying by nearly two orders of magnitude. This constancy supports the D'yakonov-Perel'-Kachorovskii model of spin relaxation through interrupted precessional dephasing in the spin-orbit field