We study spectral and scattering properties of the Laplacian$H$^{(σ)}=-Δ in $L_2(\mathbf{R}^{d+1}_+)$ corresponding to the boundary condition $\frac{\partial u}{\partial\nu} + \sigma u = 0$ with a periodic function σ. For non-negative σ we prove that$H$^{(σ)}is unitarily equivalent to the Neumann Laplacian$H$^{(0)}. In general, there appear additional channels of scattering due to surface states. We prove absolute continuity of the spectrum of$H$^{(σ)}under mild assumptions on σ.