SURFACE THERMOPLASMA WAVES AND THEIR INTERACTION WITH FLOW OF CHARGED-PARTICLES AT A SEMICONDUCTOR-METAL INTERFACE

It is shown that slow surface thermoplasma waves exist at an interface of a semiconductor with an ideal metal if thermal motion of conductio n electrons causes the spatial dispersion of the dielectric permeabili ty in the semiconductor. The spectrum and the damping of these waves a re obtained. The collisionless damping is due to the interaction of th e surface thermoplasma waves with the conduction electrons which move along a normal to the boundary without collisions through the region o f the surface wave localization. The Landau damping is exponentially s mall in comparison with the damping. Amplification of the surface ther moplasma wave can be realized by using a flow of charged particles inj ected into the semiconductor from the metal.