Quantum mechanical model for phonon excitation in electron diffraction and imaging using a Born-Oppenheimer approximation

B. D. Forbes, A. V. Martin, S. D. Findlay, A. J. D’Alfonso, and L. J. Allen

Phys. Rev. B 82, 104103 – Published 3 September 2010

Abstract

We propose a many-body quantum-mechanical model for multiple thermal scattering of fast electrons due to phonon excitation in condensed matter. The key approximation upon which our approach is based is in the spirit of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. We compare the conceptual underpinnings of this model to the well-known frozen phonon model for thermal scattering. Using our model it is possible to calculate the probability distribution of both elastically and inelastically scattered electrons. The model is also extended to encompass core-shell ionization.

Received 9 June 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.82.104103

Authors & Affiliations

B. D. Forbes¹, A. V. Martin^1,2, S. D. Findlay³, A. J. D’Alfonso¹, and L. J. Allen¹

¹School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
²Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Hamburg 22607, Germany
³Institute of Engineering Innovation, School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan

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Vol. 82, Iss. 10 — 1 September 2010

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Physical Review B

covering condensed matter and materials physics