Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-condensed-matter-physics-major-option-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/5/c/ii/solution

At low density, the plasma frequency and free-carrier dielectric screening are smaller, so radiation can penetrate a suitable semiconductor sample. In a high field with , the active circular component has a resolved cyclotron absorption line near , with width of order . The opposite circular component lacks that positive-frequency resonance.
Different complex refractive indices for the two components produce Faraday rotation and circular dichroism. Transmission with controlled circular polarization therefore isolates the cyclotron resonance and measures . The low-density/high-field labels do not by themselves imply complete transparency at every frequency; one must still avoid the plasma stop bands, strong interband absorption and excessive sample thickness.

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