  We explore the characteristics of equilibrium tunneling of electrons from a
3D electrode into a high mobility 2D electron system. For most 2D Landau level
filling factors, we find that tunneling can be characterized by a single,
well-defined tunneling rate. However, for spin-polarized quantum Hall states
(nu = 1, 3 and 1/3) tunneling occurs at two distinct rates that differ by up to
2 orders of magnitude. The dependence of the two rates on temperature and
tunnel barrier thickness suggests that slow in-plane spin relaxation creates a
bottleneck for tunneling of electrons.
