2D Brillouin Zones

number of Brillouin zones

3

outermost Brillouin zone only:

lattice:

square

triangular

show Bragg planes

Three steps are needed to construct successive Brillouin zones for 2D lattices.

1. Select one reciprocal lattice point as the origin.

2. Draw the bisectors perpendicular to the line segments connecting the origin with the other reciprocal lattice points (the Bragg lines).

3. The

n

th

Brillouin zone consists of those points in the plane such that a line segment from the point to the origin intersects exactly

n-1

Bragg lines.