Abstract
Wilson's method for analysis of diffraction by faulted close‐packed lattices is generalized in a way which eliminates the need for solution of a difference equation. This leads to an analytic solution for the intensity distribution associated with a difference equation of any order. The solution is valid for all systems where there is not a long‐range correlation between the stacking symbols of close‐packed layers (this criterion is reexpressed in terms of properties of the difference equation). The method is used to derive analytic solutions for the intensity distributions which arise from Jagodzinski's two‐parameter model for growth faulting and from fcc crystals with mixtures of intrinsic, extrinsic, and growth faults.