Dr.

Anuj Kumar
 Syllabus
Unit 1. Crystal Physics and Defects in Crystals:Crystalline solids, unit cell and direct lattice, Bravais lattice in two
dimensions (plane lattice) and three-dimensional ( space lattice), Closed packed structures.

Unit 2. Interaction of X-rays with matter, Absorption of X-rays, X-ray diffraction, The Laue, powder and rotating
crystal methods, The reciprocal lattice and its important properties and applications, Diffraction intensity, Atomic
scattering factor, Geometrical structure factor.

Unit 3. Crystal imperfections: Point defects, line defects and planer (stacking) faults. Estimation of dislocation
density from X-ray diffraction measurements. The observation of imperfections in crystals: electron microscopic
techniques.

Unit 4. Electronics Properties of Solids:

Electrons in a periodic lattice: Bloch theorem, The Kronig-Penny Model, Effective mass of an electron, Tight-binding
approximation, Cellular and pseudopotential methods,
Fermi surface: Fermi surface and Brillouin zones, Anomalous skin effect, Cyclotron resonance, de Hass van Alphen
effect, Magnetoresistance, Hall effect in semiconductors
Superconductivity: Elements of BCS theory, Flux quantization, Meissner effect, Critical temperature, Persistent
current.

Unit 5. Ferromagnetism: Weiss theory of ferromagnetism, Heisenberg model and molecular field theory,
Ferromagnetic domains, The Bloch-wall, Spin waves and magnons, Curie- Weiss law for susceptibility, Ferri and
antiferro-magnetic order.
Text and References Books
Verma and Srivastava: Crystallography for Solid State Physics
Azaroff: Introduction to Solids
Omar: Elementary Solid State Physics
Aschroff & Mermin: Solid State Physics
Kittel: Solid State Physics
Chaikin and Lubensky: Principles of Condenced Matter Physics
Why Study Solid State Physics?
Ideal Crystal
 An ideal crystal is a periodic array of structural
units, such as atoms or molecules.
 It can be constructed by the infinite repetition of
these identical structural units in space.
 Structure can be described in terms of a lattice,
with a group of atoms attached to each lattice
point. The group of atoms is the basis.
Bravais Lattice
 An infinite array of discrete points with an
arrangement and orientation that appears exactly the
same, from any of the points the array is viewed from.
 A three dimensional Bravais lattice consists of all
points with position vectors R that can be written as a
linear combination of primitive vectors. The
expansion coefficients must be integers.
Crystal lattice: Proteins
Crystal Structure
Honeycomb: NOT Bravais
Honeycomb net: Bravais lattice with
two point basis
Crystal structure: basis
Translation Vector T
Translation(a1,a2), Nontranslation
Vectors(a1’’’,a2’’’)
Primitive Unit Cell
 A primitive cell or primitive unit cell is a volume of
space that when translated through all the vectors in a
Bravais lattice just fills all of space without either
overlapping itself or leaving voids.
 A primitive cell must contain precisely one lattice
point.
Space Lattice A lattice is also called a Space Lattice (or even Bravais Lattice in some contexts)

An array of points in space such that every point has identical

surroundings
 This automatically implies two properties of lattices
 In Euclidean space lattices are infinite (infinite array)
 Lattices ‘have translational periodicity’
or
Translationally periodic arrangement of points in space is called a lattice*

 We can have 1D, 2D or 3D arrays (lattices)

The motif associated with these lattices can themselves be 1D, 2D or 3D ‘entities’.

* this definition arises naturally from the first definition.

Note: points are drawn with finite size for clarity  in reality they are 0D (zero dimensional)
1D Lattices
1D Lattices Construction of a 1D lattice
These points are shown as ‘finite’
 Let us construct a 1D lattice starting with two points circles for better ‘visibility’!

The point on the right has one to the left and hence by the requirement of identical surrounding
the one of the left should have one more to the left

By a similar argument there should be one more to the left and one to the right

This would lead to an infinite number of points

 
The infinity on the sides would often be left out from schematics

In 1D spherical space a lattice can be finite!

1D Lattices


a
Starting with a point the lattice translation vector (basis vector) can generate the lattice
Though this is called a lattice parameter it is
 In 1D there is only one kind of lattice. better described as the unit cell parameter

 This lattice can be described by a single lattice parameter (a).

 In 1D Mirror  2-fold  Inversion.
(The mirror and the 2-fold axis reduce to a points in 1D). (Shown below for a two line segment object).
 To obtain a 1D crystal this lattice has to be decorated with a motif.
 The unit cell for this lattice is a line segment of length a.

 

Note: Basis vector should not be confused with the basis ( the motif)
2D Lattices
2D Lattices
 2D lattices can be generated with two basis vectors
 They are infinite in two dimensions
 There are five distinct 2D lattices:
1 Square
2 Rectangle
3 Centered Rectangle
4 120 Rhombus
5 Parallelogram (general)
This aspect can be quite confusing

 Note that in the classification of lattices, we are considering the shape of the unit
cell and the disposition of lattice points with respect to that unit cell (i.e., “are
there a lattice points only in the corners?”, “is there lattice point at the centre
also?”).
 However, at the heart of the classification is the symmetry of the
lattice.

To simplify matters:
In this set of slides we will NOT consider symmetries with translation built into them (e.g. glide reflection)
2D Lattices
                

                

                

                

                

                

                

                

            b 

a
   
Two distances: a, b
b 
                

a There are three lattice parameters which describe this lattice

One angle: 
Two basis vectors generate the lattice = 90 in the current example
Bravais lattices in 2D
oblique rectangular hexagonal cubic

centered rectangular
 Four (4) Unit Cell shapes in 2D can be used for 5 lattices as follows:
 Square  (a = b,  = 90) There are 3 lattice parameters in 2D (two
distances and one included angle)
 Rectangle  (a, b,  = 90)
 120 Rhombus  (a = b,  = 120)
Though these are called lattice parameters it is
 Parallelogram (general)  (a, b, ) better described as the unit cell parameters

 It is clear some of them require more parameters to describe than others.

I.e. might exist constraints (amongst these parameters), which reduces the
number of independent lattice parameters.
 Some of them have special constraints on the angle.
 Can we put them in some order?
 The next slide defines a parameter called ‘terseness’ to order them.
 Unit Cell with
1 Square Lattice Symmetry elements
(rotational) overlaid

Rotational + Mirrors
 
b a
Symmetry

4mm
Lattice parameters: a = b,  = 90
4mhmd
Note that these vectors are
translational symmetry
operators (i.e. act repeatedly!)
Why put rotational symmetry elements onto a lattice?
They are NOT ‘mere’ vectors!
(aren’t lattices built just out of translation?)
A note on the symmetry Note that the periodicity of the
lattice is a & b
 but the periodicity of the mirrors
along x, y are a/2 and b/2
Rotational + Mirrors

Symmetry

4mm

This (4mm) is the symmetry of the square lattice.

 Crystals based on the square lattice can have lower symmetry than the lattice itself.
 If the crystal based on the square lattice has 4mm or 4 symmetry then the crystal will be
called a Square Crystal (else not).
 Unit Cell with
2 Rectangle Lattice Symmetry elements
(rotational) overlaid

Rotational + Mirrors

2mm
Lattice parameters: a, b,  = 90

The shortest lattice translation vector (a < b)

3 Centred Rectangle Lattice Unit Cell with Symmetry
elements (rotational) overlaid
Lattice parameters: a, b,  = 90

Rotational + Mirrors

2mm

 
(a  b )
2

We will see the utility of the shortest lattice

translation vector in the topic on dislocations

Continued…
4 120 Rhombus Lattice Unit Cell with Symmetry
elements (rotational) overlaid
Lattice parameters: a = b,  = 120

Rotational + Mirrors

 
a b
6mm

 The 120 rhombus lattice has 6mm symmetry. Additional 3-folds and 2-folds are also present
(as marked in the figure).
 The shortest lattice translation vectors are: a, b & (a + b).

Continued…
 Note: this is a rhombus lattice with a very specific angle. A general rhombus where α120
will be listed under centred rectangle lattice.

General rhombus 
centred rectangle

Note: the rhombus shaped unit cell itself does not have a 6-fold symmetry. This implies that the unit cell
has ‘much’ lower symmetry than the lattice.

Continued…
The Hexagon shaped cell

1/3 contribution to cell

 1/3 6 = 2

1 (full) contribution to cell

Often one might see a cell in the form of a hexagon:

 This is not a conventional cell (as it is not in the shape of a parallelogram)
 This is actually a combination of 3 cells
 This cell brings out the hexagonal symmetry of the lattice
 It is triply non-primitive (3 lattice points per cell)
5 Parallelogram/Oblique Lattice
Unit Cell with
Symmetry elements
overlaid

Lattice parameters: a, b,   90

There are no mirrors in parallelogram lattice

 A general parallelogram (or often called a oblique) lattice has only 2-fold symmetry
elements.
 The 2-folds are present at the lattice points and centres of edges and faces of the unit cell.
 The included angle cannot be 90 (as this will lead to a rectangle lattice).
 In effect the rectangle lattice and the oblique lattice have the same symmetry but ‘somehow’
90 is ‘special’ !!!
Funda Check Does the parallelogram lattice not ‘have’ some more symmetry?

 The parallelogram lattice drawn before seems to have some symmetry due to the way it is
drawn. The situation becomes clear if we consider a parallelogram lattice which is not close
to a ‘rhombus lattice’.

A ‘rather elongated’ parallogram lattice

Lack of mirrors in this lattice

The one we saw before

Another such example

Summary of 2D lattices
Lattice Symmetry Shape of UC Lattice Parameters
1. Square 4mm 1. Square (a = b ,  = 90)
2. Rectangle 2mm 2. Rectangle (a  b,  = 90)
3. Centred Rectangle 2mm " (a  b,  = 90)
4. 120 Rhombus 6mm 3. 120 Rhombus (a = b,  = 120)
5. Parallelogram 2 4. Parallelogram (a  b,  general value)

Lattice Simple Centred

Square  
Every lattice that you can construct is
Rectangle   present somewhere in the list
 the issue is where to put them!
120 Rhombus  
Parallelogram  
Shows the equivalence
Why are some of the possible 2D lattices missing?

 We had seen that there is a rectangle lattice and a centred rectangle lattice.
 The natural question which comes to mind is that why are there no centred
square, centred rhombus and centred parallelogram lattices?
 We have already answered the question regarding the centred square lattice.
(However, we will repeat the answer here again).
 We will also answer the question for the other cases now.
The case of the centred square lattice

Centred square lattice = Simple square lattice

4mm

Note that the symmetries

of are that of the square
lattice

Based on size the smaller blue cell (with half the area) is preferred
This is nothing but a square lattice viewed at 45!

Hence this is not a separate case

The case of the centred rhombus lattice

Centred rhombus lattice = Simple rectangle lattice

Note that the symmetries

of the centred rhombus
lattice are identical to the
rectangle lattice (and not
to the rhombus lattice)

Based on size the smaller green cell (with half the area) is preferred
Hence this is not a separate case
The case of the centred parallelogram lattice

Centred parallelogram lattice = Simple parallelogram lattice

Note that the symmetries

are that of the
parallelogram lattice

Based on size the smaller green cell (with half the area) is preferred

Hence this is not a separate case

3D Lattices
3D Lattices
 3D lattices can be generated with three basis vectors.
 They are infinite in three dimensions.
 3 basis vectors generate a 3D lattice.
 The unit cell of a general 3D lattice is described by 6 numbers (in special cases all these
numbers need not be independent)  6 lattice parameters
 3 distances (a, b, c) As pointed out before, though this is called a
lattice parameter it is better described as the unit
 3 angles (, , ). cell parameters

 Not all these parameters may be independent. Some constraints may be placed on them.

A derivation of the 14 Bravais lattices or the existence of 7 crystal systems will not be shown in this introductory course
 There are 14 distinct 3D lattices which come under 7 Crystal Systems
 The BRAVAIS LATTICES (with shapes of unit cells as) :
 Cube  (a = b = c,  =  =  = 90)
 Square Prism (Tetragonal)  (a = b  c,  =  =  = 90)
 Rectangular Prism (Orthorhombic)  (a  b  c,  =  =  = 90)
 120 Rhombic Prism (Hexagonal)  (a = b  c,  =  = 90,  = 120)
 Parallelepiped (Equilateral, Equiangular)
(Trigonal)  (a = b = c,  =  =   90)
 Parallelogram Prism (Monoclinic)  (a  b  c,  =  = 90  )
 Parallelepiped (general) (Triclinic)  (a  b  c,     )

 To restate:
the 14 Bravais lattices have 7 different Symmetries
(which correspond to the 7 Crystal Systems).
Important Note:
do NOT confuse the shape of the unit cell with the definition of crystal
systems (crystal systems are defined based on symmetry).

(as we have already seen we can always choose a different unit cell for a given
crystal)
 Building a 3D cubic lattice

a = b = c,
 =  =  = 90

Each vertex of the cube is a lattice point

Actually this is a part of the cubic lattice remember lattices are infinite! (no points are shown for clarity)
A General Lattice in 3D
6 lattice parameters
 3 distances (a, b, c)
 3 angles (, , )

a  b  c,     
In special cases some of these numbers may
Any general parallelepiped is be equal to each other (e.g. a = b) or equal to
Click here to
know more space filling a special number (e.g.  = 90)
about
(hence we may not require 6 independent numbers to describe a lattice)
 Bravais Lattice: various viewpoints

 A lattice is a set of points constructed by translating a single point in

discrete steps by a set of basis vectors.
In three dimensions, there are 14 unique Bravais lattices (distinct from one
another in that they have different space groups) in three dimensions. All
crystalline materials recognized till now fit in one of these arrangements.
 In geometry and crystallography, a Bravais lattice is an infinite set of points
generated by a set of discrete translation operations.
 A Bravais lattice looks exactly the same no matter from which point in the lattice
one views it. An important property of a lattice

 Bravais concluded that there are only 14 possible Space Lattices (with Unit Cells
to represent them). These belong to 7 Crystal systems.
 There are 14 Bravais Lattices which are the Space Group symmetries of lattices

A derivation of the 14 Bravais lattices or the existence of 7 crystal systems will not be shown in this introductory course
 Time to fasten
your seat-belts the
next few slides
will take you on a
10 g-force dive
 IMPORTANT
Crystals and Crystal Systems are defined
based on Symmetry
& NOT
Based on the Geometry of the Unit Cell

Example

Cubic Crystal
 Does NOT imply a = b = c &  =  =  Intrigued!
Want to Know
More?
 It implies the existence of two 3-fold axis in the structure
 IMPORTANT
If lattices are based on just translation
(Translational Symmetry (t))
then how come other Symmetries (especially
rotational) come into the picture while choosing the
Crystal System & Unit Cell for a lattice?

Why do we say that End Centred Cubic Lattice does not exist?
 Isn’t it sufficient that a = b = c &  =  =  to call something cubic?
(why do we put End Centred Cubic in Simple Tetragonal?)

 The issue comes because we want to put 14 Bravais lattices into 7 boxes (the 7 Crystal
Systems; the Bravais lattices have 7 distinct symmetries) and further assign Unit Cells
to them
 The Crystal Systems are defined based on Symmetries (Rotational, Mirror, Inversion
etc.  forming the Point Groups) and NOT on the geometry of the Unit Cell
 The Choice of Unit Cell is based on Symmetry & Size (& Convention)
(in practice the choice of unit cell is left to us!  but what we call the crystal is not!!)

Continued…
ONCE MORE:
 When we say End Centred Cubic 
End Centred is a type of Lattice (based on translation)
&
Cubic is a type of Crystal (based on other symmetries)
&
Cubic also refers to a shape of Unit Cell (based on lattice parameters)

AND:
 To confuse things further 
Cubic crystals can have lower symmetry than the cubic lattice
(e.g. Cubic lattices always have 4-fold axis while Cubic Crystals may not have 4-fold axes)

Feeling lost!?!
 hang on!  some up-coming examples will make things CRYSTAL clear
To emphasize:
 The word Cubic (e.g. in a cubic crystal) refers to 3 things 
A type of Lattice (based on translation)
&
A type of Crystal (based on other symmetries)
&
A shape of Unit Cell (based on lattice parameters) Hence the confusion!!
 Lattices have the highest symmetry
Another (Which is allowed for it)
IMPORTANT point  Crystals based on the lattice
can have lower symmetry
 We will take up these cases one by one
14 Bravais Lattices divided into 7 Crystal Systems (hence do not worry!)

A Symmetry based concept Some guidelines apply ‘Translation’ based concept

Crystal System Shape of UC Bravais Lattices

P I F C
1 Cubic Cube   
2 Tetragonal Square Prism (general height)  
3 Orthorhombic Rectangular Prism (general height)    
4 Hexagonal 120 Rhombic Prism 
5 Trigonal Parallopiped (Equilateral, Equiangular) 
6 Monoclinic Parallogramic Prism  
7 Triclinic Parallelepiped (general) 

P Primitive
Why are some of the entries missing? I Body Centred
 Why is there no C-centred cubic lattice?
 Why is the F-centred tetagonal lattice missing? F Face Centred
 ….? C A/B/C- Centred Continued…
Arrangement of lattice points in the Unit Cell
& No. of Lattice points / Cell

Position of lattice points Effective number of Lattice points / cell

1 P 8 Corners = [8  (1/8)] = 1

8 Corners
2 I + = [1 (for corners)] + [1 (BC)] = 2
1 body centre
8 Corners
3 F + = [1 (for corners)] + [6  (1/2)] = 4
6 face centres
A/ 8 corners
4 B/ + = [1 (for corners)] + [2  (1/2)] = 2
C 2 centres of opposite faces
 P I F C
1 Cubic Cube   

I
P

abc       90

Symmetry of Cubic lattices

4 2
3
m m
F
Lattice point
 P I F C
2 Tetragonal Square Prism (general height)  

I
P

Symmetry of Tetragonal lattices abc

4 2 2       90
mmm
 P I F C
3 Orthorhombic Rectangular Prism (general height)    

One convention
abc
I
P

Note the position of

‘a’ and ‘b’
abc
      90

F Symmetry of Orthorhombic lattices C

2 2 2
mmm
Is there a alternate possible set of unit cells for OR? Why is Orthorhombic called Ortho-’Rhombic’?
 P I F C
4 Hexagonal 120 Rhombic Prism 

abc
    90,   120

A single unit cell (marked in blue)

along with a 3-unit cells forming a Symmetry of Hexagonal lattices
hexagonal prism
6 2 2
mmm

What about the HCP?

Note: there is only one type of hexagonal (Does it not have an additional atom somewhere in the middle?)
lattice (the primitive one)
 P I F C
5 Trigonal Parallelepiped (Equilateral, Equiangular) 
Rhombohedral

abc
      90

Note the position of the origin

and of ‘a’, ‘b’ & ‘c’
Symmetry of Trigonal lattices

2
3
m
 A trigonal cell can be produced from a cubic
cell by pulling along [111] (the body diagonal)
(keeping the edge length of the cube constant)
 P I F C
6 Monoclinic Parallogramic Prism  

abc
    90  

Note the position of

‘a’, ‘b’ & ‘c’

Symmetry of Monoclinic lattices

2
m
 P I F C
7 Triclinic Parallelepiped (general) 

abc
  

Symmetry of Triclinic lattices

1
Common motifs in diatomic materials

Zinceblende (ZnS)
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC POINTS, DIRECTIONS &
PLANES
 In crystalline materials, often necessary to specify points,
directions and planes within unit cell and in crystal lattice.
 Three numbers (or indices) used to designate points,
directions (lines) or planes, based on basic geometric
notions
 The three indices are determined by placing the origin at
one of the corners of the unit cell, and the coordinate axes
along the unit cell edges
POINT COORDINATES
 Any point within a unit cell specified as fractional
multiples of the unit cell edge lengths
 Position P specified as q r s; convention:
coordinates not separated by commas or
punctuation marks
EXAMPLE: POINT COORDINATES
 Locate the point (1/4 1 ½)

Q? Specify point coordinates for all atom positions

for a BCC unit cell
– Answer: 0 0 0, 1 0 0, 1 1 0, 0 1 0, ½ ½ ½, 0 0 1, 1
0 1, 1 1 1, 0 1 1
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC DIRECTIONS
 Defined as line between two points: a vector
 Steps for finding the 3 indices denoting a direction
 Determine the point positions of a beginning point (X1 Y1 Z1) and a
ending point (X2 Y2 Z2) for direction, in terms of unit cell edges
 Calculate difference between ending and starting point
 Multiply the differences by a common constant to convert them to
the smallest possible integers u, v, w
 The three indices are not separated by commas and are enclosed in
square brackets: [uvw]
 If any of the indices is negative, a bar is placed in top of that index
COMMON DIRECTIONS
EXAMPLES: DIRECTIONS
 Draw a [1,-1,0] direction within a cubic unit cell

• Determine the indices for this direction

– Answer: [120]
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC PLANES
 Crystallographic planes specified by 3 Miller
indices as (hkl) Z

 Procedure for determining h,k and l:

 If plane passes through origin, translate plane
or choose new origin
 Determine intercepts of planes on each of the
axes in terms of unit cell edge lengths (lattice
parameters). In given figure (½ ¼ ½) Note: 1/2

if plane has no intercept to an axis (i.e., it is

parallel to that axis), intercept is infinity 1/4

 Determine reciprocal of the three intercepts

Y

(2 4 2) 1/2

 If necessary, multiply these three numbers by (1 2 1)

a common factor which converts all the X

reciprocals to small integers (1 2 1)

 The three indices are not separated by
commas and are enclosed in curved brackets:
(hkl) (121)
 If any of the indices is negative, a bar is
placed in top of that index
 THREE IMPORTANT CRYSTAL
PLANES

( 1 0 0) (1 1 0) (1 1 1)
THREE IMPORTANT CRYSTAL PLANES
 Parallel planes are equivalent
 EXAMPLE: CRYSTAL PLANES
 Construct a (0,-1,1) plane

Intercepts: ( , -1, 1)
Marks points.
Draw plane.
FCC & BCC CRYSTAL PLANES
 Consider (110) plane

• Atomic packing different in the two cases

• Family of planes: all planes that are crystallographically
equivalent—that is having the same atomic packing,
indicated as {hkl}
– For example, {100} includes (100), (010), (001) planes
– {110} includes (110), (101), (011), etc.
 Equivalent Planes

Note the shift of origin from blue to red circle for the negative indices
 Crystal Directions
The line which passes through uvw will also pass through
2u2v2w and ½ u ½ v ½ w. Hence [uvw], [2u2v2w] and
[½ u ½ v ½ w] are same and written as [uvw].

Fractions are converted in to integers (as shown in the

figure below) and reduced to lowest terms.
 Crystal Directions
To determine a direction of a line in the crystal:

Find the coordinates of the two ends of the line and

subtract the coordinates (Head – Tail) OR draw a line from
the origin parallel to the line and find its projection lengths on
x, y and z axis in terms of the unit vectors a, b and c.

Convert fractions, if any, in to integers and reduce to

lowest term.

Enclose in square brackets [uvw]

 Relationship between direction and planes
In the cubic system planes and directions having same
indices are perpendicular to each other i.e. if [uvw] direction
is perpendicular to (hkl) plane then h = u, k = v and l = w
Ex: {100} planes and <100> directions are perpendicular to
each other.

If [uvw] direction is parallel to (hkl), that is if [uvw] lies in the

plane (hkl) then hu + kv + lw = 0. For example, [1 1 0 ] lies
in the plane (111) since 1.(-1) + 1.1 + 1.0 = 0
 Planes in Hexagonal system

 In the cubic system all the faces of the cube

are equivalent, that is, they have similar indices.
 However, this is not the case in the hexagonal
system. The six prism faces for example have
indices (1 0 0), (0 1 0), (1 1 0 ), (1 0 0 ), (01 0),
(11 0 ), which are not same.

In order to address this, a fourth axis (a3)

which is opposite to the vector sum of a1
and a2 is used and a corresponding fourth
index i is used along with hkl. Therefore
the indices of a plane is given by (hkil)
whre i = -(h+k). Sometime i is replaced
with a dot and written as (h k . l)
 Planes in Hexagonal system

The indices of six faces now become (1 01 0), (0 11 0),
(1 1 0 0), (1 0 1 0), (01 1 0), (11 0 0 ) which are now
equivalent and belong to the {1 01 0 } family of planes.

(1 1 0 0)

(0 11 0)
(1 01 0)
 Directions in Hexagonal Crystal
 Like planes, directions in the hexagonal system
are also written in terms of four indices as
[uvtw].
 If [UVW] are indices in three axes then it can
be converted to four-axis indices [uvtw] using
the following relations.
U=u–t V=v–t W=w
u = (2U-V)/3 v = (2V-U)/3 t = -(u + v) = -(U + V)/3
w=W
Ex: [100] = [211 0], [210] = [1 0 1 0]
Interplanar spacing
SEPARATION BETWEEN LATTICE PLANES

Fig.1

82
 SEPARATION BETWEEN LATTICE PLANES

Let 1, 1 and 1 (different from the interfacial

angles,  and ) be the angles between co-
ordinate axes X,Y,Z and ON respectively.

The intercepts of the plane on the three axes are,

(1)
a a a
OA  , OB  and OC 
h k l

83
 SEPARATION BETWEEN LATTICE PLANES

From the figure, 1(b), we have,

d1 d1 d1 (2)
cos  
1
, cos 
1
and cos 
1

OA OB OC
From the property of direction of cosines,

cos 2 1  cos 21  cos 2 1  1 (3)

Using equation 1 in 2, we get,

84
 2
d1
2
(h 2
 k 2
 l 2
) 1
a
2 a2
i.e. d1 
(h 2  k 2  l2 )
a
d1  ON  (5)
h 2  k 2  l2

i.e. the perpendicular distance between the origin

a
and the 1st plane ABC is, d1 
h 2  k 2  l2

85
Now, let us consider the next parallel plane.

Let OM=d2 be the perpendicular distance of this

plane from the origin.

The intercepts of this plane along the three axes are

2a 2a 2a
OA  1
, OB 
1
, OC 
1
,
h k l
2a
 OM  d 2 
h 2  k 2  l2

86
 SEPARATION BETWEEN LATTICE PLANES

• Therefore, the interplanar spacing between two

adjacent parallel planes of Miller indices (h k l ) is
given by, NM = OM – ON

i.e.Interplanar spacing

a
d   d 2  d1  
(6)

h 2  k 2  l2

87
 PROBLEMS

Worked Example

The lattice constant for a unit cell of aluminum is 4.031Å

Calculate the interplanar space of (2 1 1) plane.

a = 4.031 Å
(h k l) = (2 1 1)
a 4.031  1010
Interplanar spacing d 
h 2  k 2  l2 2 2  12  12
 d = 1.6456 Å

88
Coordination number
 Each of the above three lattices is incredibly common, and
characterize different classes of elements. What is the
difference?
 In many cases, the important difference is the number of nearest
neighbors, which dictates how many bonds each atom has.
 The number of nearest neighbor bonds for a given crystal lattice
is called the coordination number, and usually denoted Z.
cubic, Z=6 BCC, Z=8
FCC, Z=12 diamond, Z=4
Coordination number
Coordination number is the number of nearest neighbor
to a particular atom in the crystal

In the FCC lattice each atom is in contact with 12 neighbor

atoms. FCC coordination number Z = 12
For example, the face centered atom in the front face is in
contact with four corner atoms and four other face-centered
atoms behind it (two sides, top and bottom) and is also
touching four face-centered atoms of the unit cell in front of
it.
Coordination number
The coordination number of BCC crystal is 8.

The body centered atom is in contact with all the eight

corner atoms. Each corner atom is shared by eight unit
cells and hence, each of these atoms is in touch with
eight body centered atoms.
Coordination number

In Hexagonal lattice Z = 12. The center atom of the top

face is in touch with six corner atoms, three atoms of the
mid layer and other three atoms of the mid layer of the
unit cell above it.
Atomic packing factor
Atomic packing factor (APF) or packing
efficiency indicates how closely atoms are packed
in a unit cell and is given by the ratio of volume
of atoms in the unit cell and volume of the unit
cell

APF = Volume of atoms / Volume of unit cell

 Atomic packing factor
FCC lattice
In the FCC unit cell effective number of atoms = 8 corner
atoms x (1/8) (each atom is shared by 8 unit cells) + 6 face-
centered atoms x1/2 (each shared by two unit cells) = 4

The corner atom C is shared

1
F 2 by unit cells 1, 2, 3, 4 and
four more in front of each of
3
C them. The face-centered
atom, F is shared between
4
cells 1 and 2.
Atomic packing factor
 Atomic packing factor
BCC
For BCC crystals effective number of atoms per unit cell is
8 x 1/8 + 1 = 2 and the relation between R and a is
3a  4R
Atomic packing factor
 Atomic packing factor

The face-centered atom and the three

mid-layer atoms form a tetrahedron
MNOP which has sides equal to a (as
atoms at vertices touch each other) and
height of c/2. Using this tetrahedron it
can be shown that for an ideal
hexagonal crystal c/a ratio = 1.633

4
6  R3
8 a
3

APF (HCP)  2 3   0.74

3a c sin 60 381.414a 3
Planar density

PD  2 2

(110)
a 2a a 2

2a
 Planar density
In the {111} planes of the FCC lattice there are 2 atoms
(1/6 x 3 corner atoms + 1/2 x 3 side atoms). Planar density
of {111} planes in the FCC crystal
PD  2 4

(111)
1 3 3a 2
2a  2a
2 2
This is higher than {110} and any other plane. Therefore,
{111} planes are most densely packed planes in the FCC
crystal

2a
 Linear Density

LD  2  2
[110]
2a a
This is the most densely packed direction in the FCC lattice
Close-Packed Structure
FCC and hexagonal crystal structures are most highly
packed with packing efficiency of 74% (APF= 0.74).
Such structures can be described in terms of close-
packed atomic planes.
In FCC, {111} planes are close-packed and the basal
plane (0001) is the close-packed one in hexagonal
close-packed (HCP) system. Therefore, both of these
structures can be generated by stacking of these
planes. A portion of such a stack is shown in the picture
below.
Close-Packed Structure
There are two types of voids between the atoms –
vertex up (b), and vertex down (c). The atoms in the next
layer sit on the b sites.
In FCC, atoms in the third layer sit over the c sites and this
repeats giving rise to ABC ABC ABC type of stacking.
Close-Packed Structure
In HCP system, centers of atoms of the third layer
lie directly over centers of atoms of the first layer
(a positions) giving rise to AB AB AB type of
stacking.
 Structure-Property correlation
Aluminium (Al) is ductile while iron (Fe) and magnesium
(Mg) are not. This can be explained from their crystal
structures.
Al is FCC where as Fe is BCC and Mg is HCP.

Plastic deformation in metals takes place mainly by a

process called slip. Slip can broadly be visualized as sliding
of crystal planes over one another. Slip occurs on most
densely packed planes in the most closely packed directions
lying on that plane.
The slip plane and the direction together is called a
Slip system
 Structure-Property correlation
 In FCC, {111} planes are close-packed and there are four
unique {111} planes. Each of these planes contains three
closely packed <110> directions. Therefore, there are 4 x 3 =
12 slip systems
 In HCP, the basal plane, (0001) is the close-packed and it
contains three <1 1 2 0> directions. Hence, number of slip
system = 1 x 3 = 3
 Slip in more number of slip systems allows greater plastic
deformation before fracture imparting ductility to FCC
materials
 Structure-Property correlation
Close-packed planes are also planes with greatest
interplanar spacing and this allows slip to take place easily
on these planes.

BCC structure on the other hand has 48 possible slip

systems. However, there is no close-packed plane. Hence,
plastic deformation before fracture is not significant. Slip
might occur in {110}, {112} and {123} planes in the <111>
directions.
 Evaluation
 At the end of this chapter on crystallography,
one should be able to
 Understand Space lattice, Unit cells,7
crystal structure and 14 Bravais lattices.
 Understand atomic arrangement and packing
in different unit cells.
 Derive point coordinates
 Find out miller indices of crystallographic
planes and directions.
 Correlate some properties to crystal structure.
 Web References

https://courses.physics.illinois.edu/phys460/fa2016/Physics%20460
_lecture4.pptx
https://nptel.ac.in/courses/113106032/4%20%20Crystal%20structur
e.pdf
http://home.iitk.ac.in/~anandh/Ebook/Chapter_3a_Geometry_of_Cr
ystals.ppt
http://home.iitk.ac.in/~anandh/Ebook/Chapter_3b_Miller_Indices.ppt

Key words: Symmetry; Space lattice; Crystal structure; Miller

indices; Close pack structure; Slip system
 Assignment 1
1. Calculate the lattice constant of potassium bromide. Density of potassium
bromide is 2.7 x 103 kg/m3 and belongs to fcc lattice. (Molecular weight
of potassium bromide is 119.0 and Avogadro No. is 6.02 x 1026 per kg
mol).
2. In a crystal, lattice plane cuts intercepts of 2a, 3b and 6c along the three
axes, where a,b and c are primitive vectors of the unit cell. Determine the
Miller indices of the given plane.
3. In and ortho-rhombic crystal a lattice plane cuts intercepts of lengths of
3a, -2b and 3c/2 along three axes. Deduce the Miller indices of the plane,
where a,b,c are primitive vectors of the unit cell.
4. The lattice constant of a crystal are 1.21 Å, 1.84 Å and 1.97 Å. A plane
whose Miller indices are (1 2 3) cuts intercept 2.42 Å along the X-axes.
What is the length of the intercept along Y and Z axis?
5. In a tetragonal lattice a = b = 2.5 Å and c =1.8 Å. Deduce the lattice
specings between (111) planes.
 Assignment 1
contd..

6. What do you mean by the coordination number of a crystal lattice?

Calculate the coordination number and the distance between the nearest
neighbouring atoms for simple cubic, bcc and fcc lattices.
7. In NaCl crystal structure the lattice is fcc but the co-ordination number is
that for simple cubic lattice. In a similar case, CsCl structure has 8
nearest neighbours in place of 6. Explain?
8. Zinc has hcp structure. The height of the unit cell is 0.494 nm. The
nearest neighbour distance is 0.27 nm. The atomic weight of Zinc is
65.37. Calculate the volume of the unit cell and density of Zinc.
9. The Miller indices of a plane in a simple cubic lattice crystal are (1 2 3).
Get the co-ordinates of the plane and sketch it.
10. Draw the following planes in an fcc structure: ( 1 1 2) and (1 2 0) planes.
 Answers
1. a = (nM/Nρ)1/3 ; a =6.64 Å
2. Miller indices of the plane are (6 3 2)
3. Miller indices of the plane are (2 3 4)
4. l1, l2, l3 are the length og intercept along X, Y Z axes
l2 = -1.84 Å; l3 =-1.32 Å
5. d = 1.26 Å
8. V = 3√3a2 c/2 ; V = 9.35 10-29 m3
ρ = 6968 kg/m3