An extended three-body force shell model for the lattice-dynamics of ionic crystals

Abstract

An extended three-body force shell model (e. t. s. m.) for the dynamics of ionic crystals of cesium chloride structure has been developed by reformulating the original t. s. m. The dynamical matrix of the model consists of the long-range Coulomb and three-body interactions and short-range overlap repulsions effective up to the second-neighbours. The off-diagonal elements of this matrix along symmetry directions contain a completely new term having significant contribution for unequal shell charges. The long-wave aspects of e. t. s. m. have been explored to describe the elastic and dielectric behaviour of the crystals. The adequacy of e. t. s. m. to describe the lattice dynamics has been investigated by applying it to the case of thallous bromide (TIBr). The overall agreement between theoretical and experimental results seems to be encouraging and gives some confidence to regard it as an appropriate model for the dynamical description of ionic crystals.