Proceedings of the Physical Society · 1965 · 92 citations · 8 references
Natural SciencesPhysicsCondensed Matter PhysicsElectromagnetismTheoretical PhysicsElectrical ConductivityElectron TransportScattering ProblemsScattering TheoryBoundary Scattering ModelsConductivityConductivity In Thin FilmsElectrical Transport PropertiesFermi SurfaceSize Effect ModelingSize-dependent ConductivitySpecular Reflection
Conventionally, the theory of boundary scattering ignores the dependence of the reflection coefficient (p) on the electron wave vector. An alternative possibility, that the reflection coefficient changes abruptly from 1 to 0 when the change of wave vector on specular reflection exceeds a certain value, is explored here. An important consequence is that, as recently observed in bismuth, the effective conductivity does not decrease continuously with thickness of the conductor, but tends to a limit. The problem is considered for both spherical and ellipsoidal Fermi surfaces and the predictions are compared with those of earlier theories.
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