  We advance spin noise spectroscopy to an ultrafast tool to resolve high
frequency spin dynamics in semiconductors. The optical non-demolition
experiment reveals the genuine origin of the inhomogeneous spin dephasing in
n-doped GaAs wafers at densities at the metal-to-insulator transition. The
measurements prove in conjunction with depth resolved spin noise measurements
that the broadening of the spin dephasing rate does not result from thermal
fluctuations or spin-phonon interaction, as previously suggested, but from
surface electron depletion.
