Spin diffusion in doped semiconductors: the role of Coulomb interactions

Abstract

We examine the effect of the Coulomb interaction on the mobility and diffusion of spin packets in doped semiconductors. We find that the diffusion constant is reduced, relative to its non-interacting value, by the combined effect of Coulomb-enhanced spin susceptibility and spin Coulomb drag. In ferromagnetic semiconductors, the spin diffusion constant vanishes at the ferromagnetic transition temperature.