Abstract
A non-ideal surface is defined as one which does not reflect specularly the quasiparticles (e.g., charge carriers or excitons) reaching it from the inside. This is described in terms of a phenomenological reflection parameter p and an empirical phenomenological theory is developed on this basis. The meaning of p is discussed in terms of energy conservation (for dielectrics), charge conservation (for metals) and the physical picture of the phenomenological model of surface scattering embodied in it. The problem, amounting to finding the EM field near the surface, is solved as a function of p, for arbitrary values of p permitted by conservation principles. In particular it is shown how to construct a model of a rough (even totally diffuse) dielectric surface without violating energy conservation. The theory is tested with numerical applications for both, metals and dielectrics.
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