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4 Reciprocal lattice
Reciprocal vectors and the basis of the reciprocal vectors were first used by J. W. Gibbs. Round 1880 he made used of them in his lectures about the vector analysis ([1], pp. 10–11, 83). In structure analysis the concept of the reciprocal lattice has been established by P. Ewald and M. v. Laue in 1913, at the very begining of the discipline [2]. The reason was to facilitate calculations in analytic geometry of linear forms in coordinate systems with non–orthonormal basis, which must inevitably be used when crystals of lower symmetry (non–cubic) are investigated. Since that time the reciprocal lattice belongs to the basic concepts of crystallography, solid state physics and other disciplines. The above mentioned classicists and also authors of textbooks and reference books define the basis + vectors ~a s of the reciprocal lattice in an algebraic way (see relations 4.2(1) below or Appendix C). Then, however, the textbooks and reference books declare the reciprocal lattice to be the Fourier transform of a lattice. The proof of that statement is however almost always missing. (Probably the only exception is the book by Guinier [3], pp. 85–87). The reason for that may lie with the fact that the proof is far from being simple. The fact that the reciprocal lattice is the Fourier transform of a lattice is, however, important not only for the study of cystalline solids but also for presentation of the Fourier series of periodic functions of two and more variables that are not periodic in orthogonal directions, for the formulation of the sampling theorem in dimensions N ≥ 2 etc. In this chapter we first give that algebraic definition of the reciprocal lattice (section 4.2) and then we submit the proof that reciprocal lattice is the Fourier transform of a lattice function (section 4.3). At that, we obtain the expression for the Fourier series of general lattice functions (section 4.4), i.e. even of such ones which characterize lattices that are periodic in non–ortogonal directions only.
4.1 The lattice function
The N–dimensional lattice with basis vectors ~ar, r = 1, 2,...,N, constituted by points is characterized by the so called lattice function X X f(~x) = δ ~x − n1~a1 − n2~a2 − · · · − nN~aN = δ ~x − ~x~n , (1) ~n ∈ inf ~n ∈ inf where
~x~n = n1~a1 + n2~a2 + ··· + nN~aN (2) denotes a lattice vector and the symbol ~n ∈ inf implies that all the components n1, n2, . . . , nN of the multiindex ~n acquire all integer values. Hence, the lattice function (1) is a N–multiple series of the Dirac distributions of N variables. Let us form the matrix
a11 a12 ··· a1N
a21 a22 ··· a2N A = ka k = , (3) rs ......
aN1 aN2 ··· aNN the rows of which consist of the coordinates ars of basis vectors ~ar of the lattice in a system of coordinates with orthogonal basis (~e1,~e2, . . . ,~eN ). Let us consider the variable ~x and the multiindex ~n to be column matrices formed by coordinates xr in that orthogonal basis and by integers nr, respectively. Then, we may express the lattice function in the form X f(~x) = δ ~x − AT ~n. (4) ~n ∈ inf
The determinant of the matrix A is called the outer product of the vectors ~ar, r = 1, 2,...,N, (see e.g. [4], p. 95). ~a1,~a2, . . . ,~aN = det A. (5) Its absolute value does not depend on the choice of the orthonormal basis and defines (cf. e.g. [9], p. 216) the volume VU of the N–dimensional parallepiped (unit cell), the edges of which are the basis vectors ~ar of the lattice: 2 4 RECIPROCAL LATTICE
|det A| = VU . (6) The independence of the absolute value of the outer product on the choice of the orthonormal basis (~e1,~e2, . . . ,~eN ) is obvious from the square of that product:
2 2 T T ~a1,~a2, . . . ,~aN = det A = det A det A = det AA = det k~ar · ~ask = det G. (7)
The symbol AT denotes the transposed matrix of the matrix A and
~a1 · ~a1 ~a1 · ~a2 ··· ~a1 · ~aN
~a · ~a ~a · ~a ··· ~a · ~a 2 1 2 2 2 N det G = (8) ......
~aN · ~a1 ~aN · ~a2 ··· ~aN · ~aN is the Gram determinant of the basis vectors of the lattice whose independence on the coordinate system is evident. If the dimension N = 1, 2 and 3, the absolute value of the outer product has the meaning of length, area, and volume, respectively. For N ≥ 4 it is also reasonable to consider the absolute value of the outer product [~a1,~a2, . . . ,~aN ] as a volume because it has properties attached to the volume ([4], p. 95, [9], pp. 216–217):
(i) [~a1,~a2, . . . ,~aN ] = 0 if and only if the vectors forming the outer product are linearly dependent. (ii) If one of the vectors involved in the outer product is multiplied by a number α then the outer prouduct is multiplied by the number α.
(iii) [a1, a2, . . . , aN ] ≤ a1a2 ··· aN , where ar means the length of the vector ~ar.
4.2 Algebraic definition of reciprocal lattice In the middle of the last century the International Union of Crystallography recommended to define the + basis vectors ~a s of the lattice reciprocal to the lattice with the basis vectors ~ar by scalar products
+ ~ar · ~a s = K δrs, r, s = 1, 2,...,N, where K is the so called reciprocal constant (see [6], p. 12), the value of which can be chosen as the case may be. The recommendation of the Union has, however, not been accepted and in crystallography, material science and related technological branches K = 1 (see e.g. [3], p. 386, [5], p. 63) is consistently used, whereas in solid state physics, surface physics, etc. K = 2π is chosen (see e.g. [7], p. 62, [8], p. 87). (Emotional discussions have been carried on which of the two eventualities is the right one (cf. [10], p. 62)). We will follow here the customs of crystallography, though it slightly complicates the formula expressing the Fourier transform of the lattice function. + Thus, we define the basis vectors ~a s of the reciprocal lattice by scalar product
+ ~ar · ~a s = δrs, r, s = 1, 2,...,N. (1) It is evident from the definition that the reciprocal lattice to the reciprocal lattice is the original lattice + and that the basis vector ~a s of the reciprocal lattice is orthogonal to all the basis vectors ~ar of the original lattice with exception of the vector ~as. Definition (1) is an implicit definition of the basis vectors of the reciprocal lattice; it is not a formula + expressing the vectors ~a s in terms of the basis vectors ~ar of the original lattice. To get such an explicit expression we rewrite N 2 equations (1) in the matrix way
T A A+ = I, (2) where
+ + + a 11 a 12 ··· a 1N
a + a + ··· a + + + 21 22 2N A = a st = . . . . (3) . . .. . + + + a N1 a N2 ··· a NN 4.2 Algebraic definition of reciprocal lattice 3
+ is the matrix the rows of which are coordinates of basis vectors ~a s of the reciprocal lattice in the orthonormal system of coordinates and I is the unit matrix. It is evident from (2) that
+ −1T + (−1) A = A , i.e. a st = a ts . (4) Expressed by words: If the rows of the matrix A are coordinates of the basis vectors of the original −1 (−1) lattice, then the columns of the inverse matrix A = a st are the coordinates of the basis vectors of the original lattice:
N N X X s+t det Ast ~a + = a+ ~e = (−1) ~e , s = 1, 2,...N, (5) s st t det A t t=1 t=1
where det Ast is minor formed from det A by striking out the s–th row and t–th column. Expression (5) ~ can be written in a more simple way. Let us form the matrix As by replacing the s–th row of the matrix A by vectors ~e1,~e2, . . . ,~eN of the orthonormal basis. Then the sum
N X s+t ~ (−1) det Ast ~et = det As t=1 ~ is the Laplace development of the det As along the elements of the s–th row and the expression (5) for + the basis vectors ~a s of the reciprocal lattice takes a particularly simple form
det ~A ~a + = s , s = 1, 2,...,N. (6) s det A The disadvantage of these expressions is that they are related to an orthonormal system of coordinates. + In fact, the expression (6) provides the coordinates of the vector ~a s in terms of the coordinates art of vectors ~ar in an orthonormal system of coordinates. It is true that this orthonormal system may be arbitrary. In spite of that we will aim at an expression which does not require the use of any orthonormal system of coordinates. Fortunately in E3 the outer product is
det A = ~a1 · (~a2 × ~a3) and ~ ~ ~ det A1 = ~a2 × ~a3, det A2 = ~a3 × ~a1, det A3 = ~a1 × ~a2. Hence, the relations (6) are the well known expressions of the basis vectors of the reciprocal lattice straight by the basis vectors of the lattice:
+ ~a2 × ~a3 + ~a3 × ~a1 + ~a1 × ~a2 ~a 1 = , ~a 2 = , ~a 3 = . (7) ~a1 · (~a2 × ~a3) ~a1 · (~a2 × ~a3) ~a1 · (~a2 × ~a3) However, this happy disposition seems to be limited to N = 3 only. To be free from the necessity to use an orthonormal system of coordinates also in the case of a general dimension N, we multiply the numerator and denominator of (6) by the determinant det AT . In the denominator we get det A det AT = ~ T ~ ~ det G and in the numerator det As det A = det Gs, where det Gs is the determinant made up by replacing the elements of the s–th row in the Gram determinant by the basis vectors ~a1,~a2, . . . ,~aN of the lattice. + In this way we get the basis vectors ~a s of the reciprocal lattice expressed straight by the basis vectors ~ar of the lattice rather then by their coordinates:
det ~G ~a + = s , s = 1, 2,...,N. (8) s det G Note: The expressions (8) can be derived without any use of an orthonormal system of coordinates and + the matrix A: We resolve the vectors ~a s in the basis formed by the basis vectors of the lattice
+ ~a s = αs1~a1 + ··· + αsN~aN , s = 1, 2,...,N, (9)
and multiply each of these decompositions successively by vectors ~ar, r = 1, 2,...,N. Taking into account the definition (1) we obtain 4 4 RECIPROCAL LATTICE
αs1~a1 · ~ar + ··· + αsN~aN · ~ar = δrs, r, s = 1, 2,...,N. (10)
For a certain s, the system (10) represents N linear algebraic equations for N coefficients αs1, αs2, ..., αsN . The coefficient determinant of this system of linear algebraic equations is the Gram determinant 4.1(8). The right–hand side of the equations (10) is zero, if r 6= s, and one, if r = s. Cramer’s rule then provides a very simple solution of the sytem of equations (10): det G α = (−1)s+t st , t = 1, 2,...,N, (11) st det G
where det Gst is minor of the element ~as · ~at in the Gram determinant. On inserting solutions (11) in (9), we get
N ~ 1 X s+t det Gs ~a + = (−1) ~a det G = , s det G t st det G t=1 in acordance with (8). Let us use (8) to get expressions for basis vectors in E1 and E2. In E1 we obtain
~a ~a + ~a + = , ~a = . (12) a2 (a +)2
In E2 it is
~a ~a a2 ~a · ~a 1 2 1 1 2 ~a · ~a a2 ~a ~a + 2 1 2 + 1 2 ~a 1 = , ~a 2 = , a2 ~a · ~a a2 ~a · ~a 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 ~a2 · ~a1 a2 ~a2 · ~a1 a2 i.e.
a2~a − (~a · ~a )~a a2~a − (~a · ~a )~a ~a + = 2 1 1 2 2 , ~a + = 1 2 1 2 1 . (13) 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 a1a2 − (~a1 · ~a2) a1a2 − (~a1 · ~a2) On the contrary