High-frequency phenomena in organic conductors in a magnetic field

The propagation of electromagnetic waves in organic layered conductors with metallic conductance and a quasi-two-dimensional electron energy spectrum of arbitrary form is studied theoretically. The depth of penetration of the electromagnetic field into the conductor is found, and it is discovered to be sensitive to the polarization of the incident wave. This is done for an arbitrarily oriented (with respect to the layers) magnetic field so strong that the radius of curvature of the electron path is much smaller than the electron's mean free path. It is established that studying these effects in experiments can reveal in detail the shape and dimensions of the Fermi surface and the relaxation properties of the conduction electrons. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7761(98)02308-7].