Electron Scattering at a Rough Surface

Abstract

The lifetime of electrons in a skipping trajectory is limited by an occasional diffuse-surface-scattering event that removes the electron from a given quantum energy level. For elastic transitions between surface states, the scattering rate ${\Gamma }_s$ is predicted to become larger with increasing magnetic field as $H^2$. Such increasingly nonspecular surface reflection has been observed in a series of Ga and Sn samples with deliberate and controlled surface roughness.