Problem three from chapter one: Helical waves

By Dr. Ebrahim Foulaadvand, course Advance Solid state I Spring Semester 2011 Zanjan university, Iran.

Problem three: Suppose that a metal is placed in a uniform magnetic field H along the z direction. Let an AC
electric field Ee−ωt be applied perpendicular to H.

a) If the electric field is circularly polarised (Ey = ±iEx ) show that Eq. (1.28) should be generalised to
σ0
Jx = ( 1−i(ω∓ωc )τ
)Ex , Jy = ±iJx and Jz = 0.

Solution:

The electron equation of motion is (cgs units) :

dP P P
= − − e(E + × H) (1)
dt τ mc
.
Requiring harmonic dependence for all time variables e−iωt we obtain:

P(ω) eH
−iωP(ω) = − − eE(ω) − P(ω) × k̂ (2)
τ mc
.
Having in mind that there is no z component for the electric field we obtain after some simple mathematics:

P(ω)(1 − iωτ ) = −eτ E(ω) − ωc τ P(ω) × k̂ (3)

.
eH
In which ωc = mc . We proceed as follows by writing (3) in terms of components:

[Px î + Py ĵ + Pz k̂](1 − iωτ ) + ωc τ [Py î − Px ĵ] = −eτ [Ex î + Ey ĵ] (4)

.
Eq. (4) implies Pz = 0 and the following set of linear equations for Jx and Jy respectively.

Px (1 − iωτ ) + ωc τ Py = −eτ Ex

Py (1 − iωτ ) − ωc τ Px = ∓ieτ Ex (5)

.
Where use has been made of circular polarisation to replace Ey in terms of Ex . After straightforward mathematics
we find momentum components in terms of Ex and Ey :

−eτ −ieτ
Px = Ex Py = Ex = ±iPx (6)
1 − i(ω ∓ ωc )τ 1 − i(ω ∓ ωc )τ
.
P
To obtain the electric current components we note J = (−e)nv = (−e)n m . Therefore Eq. (6) gives:
σ0
Jx = Ex Jy = ±iJx Jz = 0 (7)
1 − i(ω ∓ ωc )τ
.
b) Show that in conjunction with (1.61) Maxwell equations have a solution Ex = E0 ekz−ωt ; Ey = ±iEx and Ez = 0
ωp2 1
provided that c2 k 2 = ω 2 where (ω) = 1 − ω ( ω∓ωc + τi ).

Solution:

The Maxwell equations give (see Ashkroft-Mermin page 17):

1
 iω iω 4π iω
−∇2 E = ∇×H= ( J − E) (8)
c c c c
.
The x component of (8) gives :

iω 4π σ0 iω
∇ 2 Ex = − ( − )Ex (9)
c c [1 − i(ω ∓ ωc )τ ] c
.
We require Ex to be a plane wave with a wave vector k in the z direction i.e.; Ex = E0 ekz−ωt . Plugging this
solution in (9) gives:

4πσ0 4πiσ0 4πσ0

k 2 c2 = iω( − iω) = ω 2 (1 + ) = ω 2 (1 − ) (10)
[1 − i(ω ∓ ωc )τ ] ω[1 − i(ω ∓ ωc )τ ] ωτ [ τi + (ω ∓ ωc )]
.
Eq. (10) gives (ω) as follows:
4πσ0
(ω) = (1 − ) (11)
ωτ [ τi + (ω ∓ ωc )]
.
4πne2 ne2 τ
Noting that plasma frequency is ωp2 = m and σ0 = m we find:

ωp2 1
(ω) = 1 − ( i
) (12)
ω ω ∓ ωc + τ
. 2 2
d) Show that when ω  ωc the relation between k and ω for the low frequency solution is ω = ωc ( kωc2 ). This low
p
frequency wave, known as helicon, has been observed in many metals. Estimate the helicon frequency if the wavelength
is 1 cm and the magnetic field is 10 kilogauss at typical metallic densities. .

Solution:

First we assume the wave frequency ω is much larger than unity so that we can omit the imaginary part. Therefore
we have
ωp2 1
c2 k 2 = ω 2 (ω) ∼ ω 2 [1 − ( )] (13)
ω ω ∓ ωc
Second by the assumption of ω  ωc we further simplify the dispersion relation as follows:

ωp2 ωωp2
c2 k 2 ∼ ω 2 [1 + ] = ω2 + (14)
ωc ω ωc
2 2
If we can drop the first term i.e.; ω 2 we reach to the desired result ω = ωc ( kωc2 ). The condition under which we can
p
ωp2 2
drop the first term is ω  In order to estimate the numerical value of the helicon frequency we note ω = Hk
ωc .
c
4πne .
In CGS unit we have c = 3 × 109 cm/s, k = 2π cm−1 , H = 104 gauss, e = 3 × 109 statcoulombs = 3 × 1.06 × 10−10 .
typical number density of metal is n = 1022 cm−3 . Putting these value in the formula we obtain