An experimental study of the Fermi surface of magnesium

Abstract

The de Haas-van Alphen effect in magnesium has been studied by the pulsed-field method developed by Shoenberg. Measurements were made of the periods of the oscillations as a function of magnetic field orientation, of the cyclotron masses at symmetry directions, and of the collision relaxation time. The absolute amplitudes were also compared with those calculated from the Lifshitz-Kosevieh expression using the observed parameters. The data on the extremal cross-sectional areas of the Fermi surface are com pared with the theoretical model deduced by Falicov from an OPW band structure calculation. Good agreement is found when magnetic breakdown is taken into account. The interpretation of some of the data requires the existence of a new kind of electron trajectory which is self-intersecting.