Observations on the determination of electron mean free paths from RF size effect measurements

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Numerical calculations of the line shape of the rf size effect for 0.1 mm thick potassium plates in the transmission geometry at 1.25 MHz, show that the amplitude of the fundamental resonance is proportional to exp (−1.22d/l), while that of the second resonance is proportional to exp (−0.92d/l), whered andl are the plate thickness and electron mean-free path, respectively. In the case of the fundamental, our result differs significantly from the exp (−1.57d/l) dependence usually assumed for the purpose of determiningl, and indicates that the conventional analysis leads to an overestimate ofl by approximately 30%. The amplitude dependence found here can be explained physically in terms of the finite skin depth, and in the case of the second resonance, in terms of the strength of the electric field splash at the center of the plate.