Stereographic projections

Stereographic projection is a graphical

technique for representing the angular
relationships between planes and directions in
crystals on a 2D piece of paper
Can be used to calculate angles between planes
etc.
Is used in the interpretation of Laue photographs
for the orientation of crystals
Stereographic projection 2
We can represent the
orientation of a plane using
the normal to that plane
If we inscribe a sphere around
the crystal of interest, the
point(s) where the normal(s)
intersect the sphere are the
poles of the planes
{100} poles of a
cubic crystal
Stereographic projections 3
The projection of a plane (trace)
passing through the origin of the
crystal onto the surface of the sphere is
a great circle
The projection of a plane that does not
pass through the origin is a small circle
We can in principle measure the angle
between two plane normals on the
surface of the sphere to find the angle
between two planes
We make this measurement along a
great circle (MLK in figure)
Great circles for
the two marked planes
Stereographic projections 4
Making measurements on the surface of a
sphere is tricky
Project everything from the spherical
surface onto a plane
Pick a diameter of the sphere, put plane
perpendicular to diameter and in contact
with one end (or through the middle of the
sphere), project from other end of diameter
through entity to be projected onto the
plane
As drawn, entities in hemisphere near B
will end up outside the basic circle. Points
on hemisphere including A will end up
inside.
To avoid this problem, change projection
point to the other end of diameter and
distinguish points in the two hemispheres
by marking them with different symbols
(usually open versus filled in)
Wulff net
Problems involving the
stereographic projection are often
handled using a Wulff net
Imagine a globe with lines of latitude
and longitude marked on the surface.
Orient the globe so that the NS axis is
parallel to the projection plane and
project all the lines onto the plane
The longitude lines end up as great circles
in the projection and the latitude lines as
small circles
The lines in the projection can be used
to read off angular coordinates
Just like using latitude and longitude to
specify geographical location
Angular measurement on a Wulff net
Read off angles
between poles
along great
circles
- Not along small
circles
Example projection of poles for crystal faces
Different habits for cubic crystals
Using a Wulff net 1
A Wulff net is usually used by
drawing the stereographic projection
under study on tracing paper, placing
the tracing over the net so that their
centers coincide and putting a pin
through their centers. Rotation of the
tracing about the pin does not change
the angular relationship between the
poles (equivalent to rotating sphere
about projection axis)
To measure an angle between two
poles, rotate the tracing until the
poles of interest lie on the same great
circle and then read off the angular
difference
Finding the trace of a pole
The projection of a plane
corresponding to a pole is
called the trace of the pole.
The great circle representing
the trace can be found by
rotating the projection until
the pole lies on the equator of
the Wulff net. The trace is
then the great circle 90 from
the pole
Rotation of a projection about an axis in
the projection plane
Rotate the projection about
the center until the desired
rotation axis is coincident
with the NS axis
Move points along (or
parallel) to small circles
through the desired rotation
angle
A1 moves to A2
B1 moves to B2
Rotation about a direction (pole) that is
inclined to the projection plane
To rotate about the pole B1 by 40
Bring rotation axis to projection
center by
Rotation around center to bring axis
onto equator
Rotation around equator by 48
Brings B1 to B2
Brings A1 to A2
Rotate around B2 by 40
Brings A2 to A3
Move rotation axis back to original
orientation
Moves B2 to B3
Moves A3 to A4
Then rotate around projection center
to get rotation axis back to starting
B1 position
Starting positions
Final positions
Moves involved in rotation
Standard projection
A standard projection shows the angular relationships
between different poles for a given crystal orientation
Useful for identifying crystal orientations
Note all reflections on a
common great circle
belong to the same zone.
The zone axis lies at 90
to the zone
Determining Miller indices for poles
Compare unknown pole to standard projection or
measure angle of projection
For orthogonal cell, indices hkl for the pole obey
h:k:l = acos : bcos : ccos
Where a, b and c cell constants