Spin transport properties in two-dimensional electron gas

Spin transport properties of spin-polarized two-dimensional electrons are studied, with application to heterostructures of III–V semiconductors. Spin diffusion coefficients are obtained by numerically solving a quantum transport equation. It is shown that the ‘spin-rotation term’, which leads to anomalous spin diffusion and spin waves in three-dimensional spin polarized 3He and hydrogen, is also present in two-dimensional degenerate electron systems at low temperatures. Longitudinal and transverse spin diffusion coefficients show different temperature dependence due to the fact that the phase space available in electron–electron scatterings associated with each diffusion process is different.