Macroscopic Theory of Helicons

Abstract

Methods for treating boundary-value problems involving helicon waves (whistlers in solids) are developed and used for infinite plates and cylinders. The magnetoplasma inside the solid is assumed to be "driven" by means of external coils, which set up an oscillatory field with sinusoidal variation along the two coordinates tangential to the surface of the sample. The results show that in surfaces parallel to the external magnetic field an unusual surface mode is present; in this mode (for small resistivities) the power absorption due to Joule heating fails to decrease as the resistivity is decreased, until the limit of anomalous skin effect is reached, in which limit the lossy mode disappears. Several remarks are made concerning the various geometrical and physical properties of helicons.