In previous videos, we saw that electrons traveling through a crystalline solid are subjected to the spatially periodic potential of the regularly arranged ions. The electron eigenstates were showed to be planewave-like with a spatially periodic amplitudes, as elucidated by Bloch’s theorem. Because real crystalline solids are composed of atoms, it is natural to speculate that the electronic orbitals of the atoms making up the crystal would play an important role in determining the final shape of the electron Bloch states. However, Bloch’s theorem does not provide information about the orbital content and we must extend it further if we desired to describe the electronic structure of real crystals. In this video, we will address this problem precisely. That is, we will develop a formalism to help us understand how Bloch states of crystals are related to the atomic orbitals of the constituent atoms.
Technical Content: Duarte Sousa, Tony Low
Video Production: Katie Low, Tony Low
