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Reciprocal Lattice-1 PDF
Reciprocal Lattice-1 PDF
1. Reciprocal lattice
2. Direct lattice (which is the Bravais lattice that determines a
given reciprocal lattice).
Definition:
Since we know that R may construct a set of points of a Bravais
lattice, thus a reciprocal lattice can be defined as:
- The collection of all wave vectors that yield plane waves with
a period of the Bravais lattice.[Note: any R vector is a
possible period of the Bravais lattice]
iG R
- A collection of vectors G satisfying e 1 or R 2n ,
G
where n is an integer and is defined as: k1n1 k 2 n2 k 3 n3 .
G
Here , is a reciprocal lattice vector which can be defined
as: G k1b1 k 2 b2 k3b3 , where k1, k2 and k3 are integers.
[Note: In some text books you may find that G K ].
- The reciprocal lattice vector G which generates the
reciprocal lattice is constructed from the linear combination
a2 a3
of the primitive vectors b1 ,b2 , and b3 , where b1 2
Vcell
and b2 and b3 can be obtained from cyclic permutation of 1 2
3.
Notes:
1. Since G R 2n , this implies that i a j 2 ij , where
b
ij 1 if i=j and ij 0 if ij.
2. The two lattices (reciprocal and direct) are related by the
above definitions in 1.
3. Rotating a crystal means rotating both the direct and
reciprocal lattices.
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R. I. Badran Solid State Physics
4. The direct crystal lattice has the dimension of [L] while the
reciprocal lattice has the dimension of [L-1].
2 3 (2 ) 3
The corresponding volume in reciprocal lattice is ( ) .
a Vcell
It must be noted that the reciprocal lattice of a sc is also a sc but
2
with lattice constant of ( ) .
a
When a set of primitive vectors for the bcc lattice are given by
a
a1 ax , a2 ay and 3
ˆ ˆ a ( xˆ yˆ zˆ) , as shown in figure 11,
2
where a is the side of the conventional cell, the primitive lattice
vectors of the reciprocal lattice are found as:
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R. I. Badran Solid State Physics
a2
[ yˆ ( xˆ yˆ zˆ)] 2
b1 2 2
1 ( )( xˆ zˆ) ,
b
a3 a
2
2
[ ( xˆ yˆ zˆ) xˆ ]
a
2
b2 2 2 b2 ( )( yˆ zˆ) ,
a3 a
2
[a ( xˆ yˆ )]
2 2
b3 2 3 ( )(2 zˆ) .
b
a3 a
2
You can easily show that the volume of primitive reciprocal lattice
2
is 2( ) 3 . This can be compared to the volume of primitive direct
a
a3
lattice Vcell .
2
Notes:
a) The bcc primitive lattice vectors in the reciprocal lattice are
just the primitive vectors of an fcc lattice.
b) The general reciprocal lattice vector G k1b1 k 2 b2 k3b3 has
a special expression for bcc primitive reciprocal lattice
2
as:
G [(k 2 k3 ) xˆ (k1 k3 ) yˆ (k1 k 2 ) zˆ] .
a
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R. I. Badran Solid State Physics
3 2
The volume of primitive cell for the direct lattice is Vcell a c.
2
a
( xˆ 3 yˆ ) czˆ
2
b1 2 2 1 ( )( xˆ
b
1
yˆ ) ,
3 2 a 3
a c
2
czˆ axˆ
b2 2 2 2
3 2 2 ( )(
b yˆ ) and
a c a 3
2
a
axˆ ( xˆ 3 yˆ )
2 2
b3 2 b3 ( ) zˆ .
3 2 c
a c
2
Using a common origin for both reciprocal and direct lattices,
we can build up the primitive reciprocal lattice by determining
2 1 2 2
the magnitudes of b1 ( )( x
ˆ y ) and b2 ( )(
ˆ yˆ ) and
a 3 a 3
the angle between them. This will give you a clue how the
base of the new reciprocal lattice looks like. Thus both vectors
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R. I. Badran Solid State Physics
4
have the magnitude b
of 1 b2 ( ). Obviously the
3a
2
magnitude of the third vector is b3 ( ) . These can be
c
compared to the magnitudes of the primitive vectors, a1 a ,
a2 a and a3 c , respectively, as shown in figures 27 and
b b
28). The angle between the two vectors 1 and 2 can be
b1 b2
directly obtained as cos ( ) 120 .
1
b1 b2
ŷ
b2 a2
a1
x̂
30
b1
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R. I. Badran Solid State Physics
2
b3
c
a3 c
4
b1
a1 a 3a
60 60
a2 a 4
b2
3a
Conclusion:
This shows that the reciprocal lattice to a simple hexagonal
lattice with lattice constant a and c is also another simple
4 2
hexagonal lattice, with lattice constants and , but
3a c
rotated through /6 about the c-axis with respect to the direct
lattice (in a clockwise direction). [See problem 5.2.a in Solid
State Physics by N. Ashcroft & N. Mermin].
45