Crystallographic Planes

• The orientations of planes for a crystal structure are

represented in a similar manner.

• Again, the unit cell is the basis, with the three-axis

coordinate system as represented in Figure. In all but
the hexagonal crystal system, crystallographic planes
are specified by three Miller indices as (hkl).

• Any two planes parallel to each other are equivalent

and have identical indices.

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore

Crystallographic Planes
The procedure used to determine the h, k, and l index numbers is as follows:

1. If the plane passes through the selected origin, either another parallel plane must be
constructed within the unit cell by an appropriate translation, or a new origin must be
established at the corner of another unit cell.

2. At this point the crystallographic plane either intersects or parallels each of the three axes;
the length of the planar intercept for each axis is determined in terms of the lattice
parameters a, b, and c.

3. The reciprocals of these numbers are taken. A plane that parallels an axis may be
considered to have an infinite intercept, and, therefore, a zero index.

4. If necessary, these three numbers are changed to the set of smallest integers by
multiplication or division by a common factor.

5. Finally, the integer indices, not separated by commas, are enclosed within parentheses,
thus: (hkl).

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore

Crystallographic Planes

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore

Crystallographic Planes

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore

Crystallographic Planes

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore

Represent the following HCP plane

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore

Spacing between planes in a cubic crystal

where dhkl = inter-planar spacing between

planes with Miller indices h,k,and l.
a = lattice constant (edge of the cube)
h, k, l = Miller indices of cubic planes being
considered.

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore

Linear Densities
Linear density (LD) is defined as the number of atoms per unit length whose centers lie on
the direction vector for a specific crystallographic direction;

number of atoms centered on direction vector

LD 
length of direction vector

Determine the linear density of the [110] direction for the FCC crystal structure
<110> directions in the FCC lattice have 2 atoms (1/2 x 2 corner atoms + 1 center atom) and
the length is 4R

2atoms 1 2
LD110   
4R 2R a

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore

Planar Densities
Planar density (PD) is taken as the number of atoms per unit area that are centered on a
particular crystallographic plane

number of atoms centered on a plane

PD 
area of plane

For eg. Planar density of {110} planes in the FCC crystal

There are 2 atoms (1/4 x 4 corner atoms + 1/2 x 2 side atoms) in the {110} planes in the FCC
lattice.

2atoms 1 2
PD110  2
 2
 2
8R 2 4 R 2 a

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore

Summary
Fundamental Concepts: Atoms in crystalline solids are positioned in orderly and repeated
patterns that are in contrast to the random and disordered atomic distribution found in
noncrystalline or amorphous materials.

Unit Cells: Crystal structures are specified in terms of parallelepiped unit cells, which are
characterized by geometry and atom positions within.

Metallic Crystal Structures: Most common metals exist in at least one of three relatively
simple crystal structures:
– Face-centered cubic (FCC), which has a cubic unit cell. Al, Ni, Pt, Au, Ag

– Body-centered cubic (BCC), which also has a cubic unit cell. Fe, Cr, V, Nb

– Hexagonal close-packed, which has a unit cell of hexagonal symmetry. Cu, Zn, Mg, Ti, Co, Cd

• Unit cell edge length (a) and atomic radius (R) are related

• Two features of a crystal structure are

– Coordination number—the number of nearest-neighbor atoms, and

– Atomic packing factor—the fraction of solid sphere volume in the unit cell.

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore

Summary
Density Computations: The theoretical density of a metal (ρ) is a function of the number of
equivalent atoms per unit cell, the atomic weight, unit cell volume, and Avogadro’s
number.

Polymorphism and Allotropy

Polymorphism is when a specific material can have more than one crystal structure.

Allotropy is polymorphism for elemental solids.

Crystal Systems

The concept of crystal system is used to classify crystal structures on the basis of unit cell
geometry—that is, unit cell edge lengths and interaxial angles. There are seven crystal
systems: cubic, tetragonal, hexagonal, orthorhombic, rhombohedral, (trigonal),
monoclinic, and triclinic.

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore

Summary
Point Coordinates, Crystallographic Directions, Crystallographic Planes

Crystallographic points, directions, and planes are specified in terms of indexing

schemes. The basis for the determination of each index is a coordinate axis system
defined by the unit cell for the particular crystal structure.
– The location of a point within a unit cell is specified using coordinates that are fractional
multiples of the cell edge lengths.

– Directional indices are computed in terms of the vector projection on each of the coordinate
axes.

– Planar (or Miller) indices are determined from the reciprocals of axial intercepts.

For hexagonal unit cells, a four-index scheme for both directions and planes is found to
be more convenient.

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore

Summary
Single Crystals, Polycrystalline Materials

Single crystals are materials in which the atomic order extends uninterrupted over the
entirety of the specimen; under some circumstances, single crystals may have flat faces
and regular geometric shapes.

The vast majority of crystalline solids, however, are polycrystalline, being composed of
many small crystals or grains having different crystallographic orientations.

A grain boundary is the boundary region separating two grains, wherein there is some
atomic mismatch.

Anisotropy

Anisotropy is the directionality dependence of properties. For isotropic materials,

properties are independent of the direction of measurement.

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore