An Exponential Function for Repulsive Interaction Energy Term I. Application to Alkali Halides

The appropriateness of a suitably modified Varshni-Shukla potential has been tested for a series of alkali halide crystals by determining the numerical values of the potential parameters involved, using Hildebrand's equation of state and thereby computing a few lattice properties. Comparison between the different sets of theoretical and experimental results infers that the present theoretical values exhibit an improvement over those of other workers, using a similar approach but with different potential energy functions. It is concluded that the modified V —S potential function is a good choice for explaining the behaviour of alkali halide lattices.