Electron–Lattice Interaction in Impure Metals

A formulation is presented to treat the electron–lattice scattering in impure metals. This formulation considers the effect of discrete lattice structure beyond that of nearly free electron approximation. Within the formulation, we examine the consequence of positional shift of impurities from ideal lattice sites. We find that the positional deviation of impurities affects the electron–lattice scattering and enhances it when compared to that in an ideal lattice structure with only substitutional impurities. This finding explains recent experimental observation of enhanced electron–lattice scattering in impure metals.