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Title: Geometric treatment of conduction electron scattering by crystal lattice strains and dislocations

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4904934· OSTI ID:22399184
 [1];  [2]
  1. Department of Physics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907 (United States)
  2. Center for Materials Processing and Tribology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907 (United States)

The problem of conduction electron scattering by inhomogeneous crystal lattice strains is addressed using a tight-binding formalism and the differential geometric treatment of deformations in solids. In this approach, the relative positions of neighboring atoms in a strained lattice are naturally taken into account, even in the presence of crystal dislocations, resulting in a fully covariant Schrödinger equation in the continuum limit. Unlike previous work, the developed formalism is applicable to cases involving purely elastic strains as well as discrete and continuous distributions of dislocations—in the latter two cases, it clearly demarcates the effects of the dislocation strain field and core. It also differentiates between elastic and plastic strain contributions, respectively. The electrical resistivity due to the strain field of edge dislocations is then evaluated and the resulting numerical estimate for Cu shows good agreement with reported experimental values. This indicates that the electrical resistivity of edge dislocations in metals is not entirely due to the core, contrary to current models. Application to the study of strain effects in constrained quantum systems is also discussed.

OSTI ID:
22399184
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 24; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English