Theory of Raman scattering by surface polaritons in a thin film

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Abstract
The method of linear response theory used by Barker and Loudon (1972) to study bulk polaritons is adapted to study surface polaritons propagating along the interfaces of a thin film. Response functions are derived and used to determine the thermally-excited fluctuations in the electric fields and vibrational amplitudes. The forward-scattering cross section is shown to be much larger than the backward-scattering cross section for both branches of surface modes. The ratio of the forward scattering cross section for surface polaritons to the bulk scattering cross section decreases with increasing film thickness. Numerical results are presented for thin films of InSb and GaP.