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8.1: Introduction

  • Page ID
    7828
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    Leon Brillouin (1889-1969) first introduced Brillouin Zones in his work on the general properties of periodic structures. The concept and construction of the zones can appear quite abstract, but this is largely a result of their wide range of useful applications.

    Brillouin zones are polyhedra in reciprocal space in crystalline materials and are the geometrical equivalent of Wigner-Seitz cells in real space. Physically, Brillouin zone boundaries represent Bragg planes which reflect (diffract) waves having particular wave vectors so that they cause constructive interference.


    This page titled 8.1: Introduction is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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