THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INDUCED GYROTROPY AND LIGHT-SCATTERING BY SPIN-DENSITY FLUCTUATIONS IN III-V SEMICONDUCTORS

A relationship is obtained that establishes a direct correlation betwe en the rotational angle of the plane of polarization of light accompan ying induced gyrotropy of an electron gas and the total extinction coe fficient for quasi-elastic light scattering. A quantitative estimate o f the nonlinear optical activity constant is given. This estimate is c ompared with the existing experimental value. The dependence of the ro tational angle of the plane of polarization of light on the electron c oncentration is determined. Besides its applicability to semiconductor s, the theory constructed here can be useful in studying thin metal fi lms, in particular intermetallic actinides, in which intense light sca ttering by spin-density fluctuations of electrons has recently been ob served. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.