Theory of scattering in solids

Abstract

The scattering of an electron by an imperfection in a lattice is set up in terms of a linear combination of the Wannier functions associated with the lattice. The difference equations which the coefficients of the Wannier functions satisfy are discussed in the light of simple examples. A Green's function formulation of the difference equations is then introduced which leads to the proper asymptotic behavior of the scattered wave. This approach avoids many of the unwarranted assumptions usually made in the discussion of scattering in solids. © 1954 The American Physical Society.