Magnetoacoustic Attenuation in Bismuth

The current quantum and classical theories of the magnetoacoustic attenuation in metals or semimetals are examined particularly of the effect of the non-ellipticity of the energy surfaces to the period in 1/ H , the spin splitting, and to the line shape of the giant oscillations. Experimental results of the longitudinal sound wave attenuation in bismuth are presented for various relative directions of magnetic field and of sound wave propagation, and for various field strengths, sound wave frequencies and temperatures. From the analysis of the angular dependence of the period Δ (1/ H ), more definite values on the energy surface parameters are obtained. The spin splitting parameter or the effective g -factor is derived for several directions of magnetic field, the values being somewhat different from those from other experiments. The results of the numerical calculation of the line shape of the giant oscillations are compared with the experimental curves with fairly satisfactory agreement but with some unexplained points.