Modification of the Velocity of Sound in Metals by Magnetic Fields

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Abstract
The effect of a high magnetic field on the velocity of sound in single crystals of Cu, Ag, Au, Al, Ta, and V was measured using a 10-Mc/sec ultrasonic pulse technique. In agreement with theory, the velocity was found to increase as the square of the applied field and the dependence on the angle between the propagation direction and the applied field was also verified. Quantitative agreement with the macroscopic theory was excellent in the case of high conductivity metals but a slight disagreement was found at lower conductivities. Investigation of the effect at 4.2°K in extremely high purity copper where the macroscopic theory should no longer apply showed that for the field in certain crystallographic directions the velocity of sound no longer varied as the square of the magnetic field but increased linearly with field. These directions appear to correspond to some of the "open orbit" directions determined from magnetoresistance studies.

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