Microwave study of surface electrons on helium films in a magnetic field

Abstract

We report preliminary results of a cyclotron resonance study of surface electrons (SE) on saturated helium films covering a PMMA substrate at T > 1 K. The real and imaginary parts of the dielectric response ∈(k,ω) of the SE are measured at fixed k and ω in B-fields up to 10 T in a 12 GHz cavity. The cyclotron resonance of the SE is determined at different helium film thicknesses dHeand at various electron densities. At small dHewe find significant anomalies in the cyclotron resonance lineshape and position. As dHeincreases the lineshape becomes progressively more symmetric and its peak moves towards the cyclotron field value expected for a free electron. To fit these data we have modified the classical Drude expression, introducing two different relaxation times for the low and high B-field regions. The phenomenological formulas fit the data quite well. A systematic theoretical analysis of these results is in progress.