Surface roughness and transverse magnetic field dependence of the Hall coefficient and the magnetoresistance in thin metal films

Abstract

Defining an effective relaxation time which depends on the root mean square (rms) surface roughness and on the angle of incidence of electrons and then using the Boltzmann transport equation general expressions have been derived for the Hall coefficient and conductivity in thin metal films subjected to à transverse magnetic field. In the weak- and strong-field limits simple analytical equations have been proposed which reveal slight size effects in the Hall coefficient and in the magnetoresistance as well as à weak field dependence of these transport parameters in agreement with previous experiments. The theoretical predictions of the present model have been compared with those of the mean free path (mfp) method which constituted an extension of the Coney model. 1n conclusion a correlation between the respective size parameters,A, in the present model and, µ, in the mfp method is proposed.[/p]