  We report measurements of the spin susceptibility in dilute (rs up to 10)
AlAs two-dimensional (2D) electrons occupying a single conduction-band valley
with an anisotropic in-plane Fermi contour, characterized by longitudinal and
transverse effective masses, ml and mt. As the density is decreased, the spin
susceptibility is significantly enhanced over its band value, reflecting the
role of interaction. Yet the enhancement is suppressed compared to the results
of quantum Monte Carlo based calculations that take the finite thickness of the
electron layer into account but assume an isotropic effective mass equal to
sqrt(ml.mt). Proper treatment of an interacting 2D system with an anisotropic
effective mass therefore remains a theoretical challenge.
