CRYSTAL STRUCTURE

Solid materials may be classified according to the regularity with

which atoms or ions are arranged with respect to one another.

CRYSTALLINE MATERIAL
 upon solidification, the atoms will position themselves in a
repetitive three-dimensional pattern, in which each atom is
bonded to its nearest-neighbor atoms.
 All metals, many ceramic materials, and certain polymers form
crystalline structures under normal solidification conditions.

NON-CRYSTALLINE OR AMORPHOUS MATERIALS

Do not crystallize, this long-range atomic order is absent
 CRYSTAL STRUCTURE

When describing crystalline structures, atoms (or ions) are thought

of as being solid spheres having well-defined diameters. This is
termed the ATOMIC HARD-SPHERE model in which spheres
representing nearest-neighbor atoms touch one another.

FCC unit cell

ATOMIC HARD-SPHERE
 METALLIC CRYSTAL STRUCTURES

Face-Centered Cubic Crystal Structure

coordination number 12
APF 0.76
 METALLIC CRYSTAL STRUCTURES

Body-Centered Cubic Crystal Structure

coordination number 8
APF 0.68
 METALLIC CRYSTAL STRUCTURES

Hexagonal Close-Packed Crystal Structure

coordination number 12
APF 0.74

c/a ratio should be 1.633

however, for some HCP
metals this ratio deviates
from the ideal value.
METALLIC CRYSTAL STRUCTURES
 DENSITY COMPUTATIONS

A knowledge of the crystal structure of a metallic solid permits

computation of its theoretical density through the relationship
 POLYMORPHISM AND ALLOTROPY

POLYMORPHISM
Some metals, as well as nonmetals, may have more than one crystal
structure, a phenomenon known as Polymorphism

 When found in elemental solids, the condition is often termed

allotropy.
 The prevailing crystal structure depends on both the
temprature and the external pressure.
 One familiar example is found in carbon: graphite is the stable
polymorph at ambient conditions, whereas diamond is formed at
extremely high pressures.
 Also, pure iron has a BCC crystal structure at room
temperature, which changes to FCC iron at 912C (1674F).
 Most often a modification of the density and other physical
properties accompanies a polymorphic transformation.
GREEK LETTERS
 CRYSTAL SYSTEMS

LATTICE PARAMETERS
CRYSTAL SYSTEMS
CRYSTAL SYSTEMS
 CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC POINTS

When dealing with crystalline

materials, it often becomes necessary
to specify a particular point within a
unit cell, a crystallographic direction,
or some crystallographic plane of
atoms.
 CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC DIRECTIONS

A crystallographic direction is defined as a line between two points,

or a vector.

Steps used to determine the three directional indices:

1. A vector of convenient length is positioned such that it passes
through the origin of the coordinate system. Any vector may be
translated throughout the crystal lattice without alteration, if
parallelism is maintained.
2. The length of the vector projection on each of the three axes is
determined; these are measured in terms of the unit cell
dimensions a, b, and c.
3. These three numbers are multiplied or divided by a common
factor to reduce them to the smallest integer values.
4. The three indices, [uvw]. The u, v, and w integers correspond to
the reduced projections along the x, y, and z axes, respectively.
 CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC DIRECTIONS

A crystallographic direction is defined as a line between two points,

or a vector.

The [100], [110], and [111] directions

within a unit cell.
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC DIRECTIONS
 CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC DIRECTIONS

 For some crystal structures, several nonparallel directions

with different indices are crystallographically equivalent; this
means that the spacing of atoms along each direction is the same.
 For example, in cubic crystals, all the directions represented
by the following indices are equivalent:

 As a convenience, equivalent directions are grouped together

into a family, which are enclosed in angle brackets, thus:

 This is, in general, not true for other crystal systems. For
example, for crystals of tetragonal symmetry, [100] and [010]
directions are equivalent, whereas [100] and [001] are not.
 CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC DIRECTIONS

Miller–Bravais, coordinate system used for Hexagonal Crystals

where primed indices are associated with the three-index scheme

and unprimed with the new Miller–Bravais four-index system.
 CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC DIRECTIONS

Miller–Bravais, coordinate system used for Hexagonal Crystals

For example, the [010] direction becomes

 CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC DIRECTIONS

PLOTTING OF CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC DIRECTIONS FOR HEXAGONAL

CRYSTALS

A grid has been constructed on the

basal plane that consists of sets of lines
parallel to each of the a1, a2, and a3
axes.
The intersections of two sets of parallel
lines (e.g., those for a2, and a3) lie on
and trisect the other axis (e.g., divide a1
into thirds) within the hexagonal unit
cell.
In addition, the z axis of Figure 3.9 is
also apportioned into three equal
lengths (at trisection points m and n).
We will refer to this scheme as a
reduced-scale coordinate system.
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC DIRECTIONS
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC DIRECTIONS
 CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC PLANES
Crystallographic planes are specified by three Miller indices as (hkl).
Any two planes parallel to each other are equivalent and have identical indices.

Representations of a series each of

the (a) (001), (b) (110), and (c) (111)
crystallographic planes.
 CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC PLANES

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. 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).
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC PLANES
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC PLANES
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC PLANES
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC PLANES
ATOMIC ARRANGEMENTS
ATOMIC ARRANGEMENTS
 LINEAR DENSITY (LD)

linear density of the [110]

direction for the FCC crystal
structure.

Direction vector passes from the center of

atom X, through atom Y, and finally to the
center of atom Z.
 PLANAR DENSITY (PD)

consider the section of a (110)

plane within an FCC unit cell as
represented in Figures
CLOSE-PACKED CRYSTAL STRUCTURES
 CLOSE-PACKED CRYSTAL STRUCTURES

 For HCP, the centers of this layer are aligned directly above the
original A positions. This stacking sequence, ABABAB . . . , is repeated
over and over.
 Of course, the ACACAC . . . arrangement would be equivalent.
 CLOSE-PACKED CRYSTAL STRUCTURES

 FCC , the ABCABCABC . . .

arrangement
 SINGLE CRYSTALS
For a crystalline
solid, when the
periodic and
repeated
arrangement of
atoms is perfect or
extends throughout
the entirety of the
specimen without
interruption, the
result is a single
crystal.

If the extremities of a single crystal are permitted to grow without any

external constraint, the crystal will assume a regular geometric shape having
flat faces, as with some of the gemstones;
the shape is indicative of the crystal structure.
 POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIALS

Most crystalline
solids are composed
of a collection of
many small crystals or
grains; such materials
are termed
polycrystalline
 ANISOTROPY

 The physical properties of single crystals of some substances depend on

the crystallographic direction in which measurements are taken.
 The elastic modulus, the electrical conductivity, and the index of refraction
may have different values in the [100] and [111] directions.
 This directionality of properties is termed anisotropy, and it is associated
with the variance of atomic or ionic spacing with crystallographic direction.

Substances in which measured properties

are independent of the direction of
measurement are isotropic.

 The extent and magnitude of anisotropic effects in crystalline

materials are functions of the symmetry of the crystal structure;
 The degree of anisotropy increases with decreasing structural
symmetry—triclinic structures normally are highly anisotropic.