When an electrical current flows parallel to a stepped metal surface, the steps contribute to the surface-induced resistivity due to the diffuse scattering of the carriers that occurs at the step edges. In this paper, multiple-scattering theory is used to compute the surface resistivity induced by steps on the vicinal (100) surfaces of Al. The carrier scattering by the surface barrier is described by a model corrugated potential fit to the results of a first-principles calculation of the surface-induced resistivity of the unstepped surface. The Bloch states of the semi-infinite bulk are described by a layer–Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker calculation. The surface resistivity is found to be a function of the step density, ${\eta }_s,$ and becomes a linear function of ${\eta }_s$ for low step-edge densities. Deviation for linearity at higher step densities results from the multiple scattering of carriers between step edges.

• Received 2 August 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.61.8484