MAGNETOOPTICAL PROPERTIES OF SURFACE PLASMA-WAVES ON COPPER, SILVER, GOLD, AND ALUMINUM

Surface plasma waves on Cu, Ag, Au, and Al are excited with He-Ne lase r light (lambda = 632.8 nm) by the prism method in the presence of a m agnetic field perpendicular to the plane of incidence. The dip at the surface plasma resonance which is observed in the reflectivity when tu ning the angle of incidence shows nonreciprocal behaviour with respect to magnetic field or light propagation reversal. Using an ac magnetic held and lock-in technique the nonreciprocal changes of the reflectiv ity can be measured with fields of only 0.2 T. The components of the m agnetooptical tenser are determined and discussed in the framework of a Drude model.