Hall effect in thin films of gold-silver alloys

Abstract

Measurements on Hall constant and magnetoresistance of thin films (350 Å-800 Å) of Ag-Au alloys with concentrations up to 20% gold have been made. An effective relaxation time is deduced from the variation of the Hall coefficient with the concentration which is found to be proportional to the mean free path of the electrons. The mean free path of the film decreases by about a factor of 3 from the bulk value for silver on the addition of gold to silver. The results are consistent with those of other workers who have used different methods and also indicate that the relaxation time is anisotropic in thin films of alloy. Size effects have also been discussed.