Anisotropic electron scattering in the resistivity of strained aluminium, palladium and silver

The electrical resistivity has been measured below 40K for annealed specimens of Al, Pd and Ag and for strained specimens with varying densities of dislocations. The temperature-dependent part of the resistivity decreases with increasing dislocation density in Al and Pd and remains substantially constant in Ag. The authors argue that only theories that include the anisotropy of electron scattering on the Fermi surface can account for these results. The anisotropy of the dislocation scattering must be similar to that of low-temperature phonons to explain the results. Most of the dislocation scattering is therefore small-angle, as would be generally expected from the strain field.