Intermediate-field effects and electron motion in an axial plane in cadmium

Abstract

The Hall resistivity ρ21(B,T) observed in Cd when B lies in the basal plane has been measured in fields B = 0.1–2.4 T and at temperatures T = 1.7–560 K. The behaviour of ρ21(B,T) in the intermediate-field condition is analysed first qualitatively in terms of contributions arising from features such as intersheet scattering, magnetic breakdown, open and saddle-point orbits, as well as closed electron and hole orbits. These qualitative conclusions are supported by a path integral calculation of the magnetoresistive tensor that is produced by model orbits chosen to imitate the principal contributors to conduction in an axial plane. The results provide an explanation of the origins of the principal features seen in the behaviour of ρ21(B,T) when [Formula: see text].