Super strong effect of surface impurities on the resistance and Hall effect of quench condensed Cs films

Thin films of Cs, quench condensed onto a He cold quartz plate, possess electronic mean free paths which considerably exceed the film thicknesses. When theses films are covered in situ with sub monolayers of Au, Ag, In, Rh and Pb in the range between 0.01 and 1 monolayers the film resistance and the Hall constant increase dramatically. This corresponds to a scattering cross section of the surface impurities which is larger than 1 in units of 4π/k F . Various models are explored to explain these unusual behavior. None yields a satisfactory explanation for this extremely strong effect of surface impurities on the resistance and the Hall effect. PACS. 71.20.Dg Alkali and alkaline earth metals – 72.10.Fk Scattering by point defects, dislocations, surfaces, and other imperfections (including Kondo effect) – 73.50.Yg Other thin film transport-related