Spin current and polarization in impure two-dimensional electron systems with spin-orbit coupling

We derive the transport equations for two-dimensional electron systems with Rashba spin-orbit interaction and short-range spin-independent disorder. In the limit of slow spatial variations, we obtain coupled diffusion equations for the electron density and spin. Using these equations we calculate electric-field induced spin accumulation and spin current in a finite-size sample for an arbitrary ratio between spin-orbit energy splitting ∆ and elastic scattering rate τ-1.We demonstrate that the spin-Hall conductivity vanishes in an infinite system independent of this ratio.