On the theory of surface impedance of metals placed in a magnetic field

The smooth non-monotonous dependence of the metal surface impedance upon the magnetic field H is investigated theoretically for the cases of diffuse and specular reflection of electrons from the specimen boundary. The type of the electron-surface interaction has been found to have very little effect on the magnitude of the impedance Z_α(H) in the range of weak magnetic fields [equation (1)]. In a strong field [equation (2)] the surface impedance behaves differently for diffuse and specular reflection. The form of the Z_α(H) function depends essentially on the ratio of the electromagnetic wave frequency ω and the collision frequency of electrons ν. This provides a possibility of establishing experimentally the frequency of electron collisions with volume scatterers.