Crystalline materials- Materials comprising one or many small crystals or grains.

If a crystalline material consists of only one large crystal, we refer to it as a

single crystal. Single crystals are useful in many electronic and optical applications.
For example, computer chips are made from silicon in the form of large (up to 12
inch
diameter) single crystals
Polycrystalline material -A material comprising many grains.
Liquid crystals (LCs) Polymeric materials that are typically amorphous but can
become partially
crystalline when an external electric field is applied. The effect of the electric field is
reversible.
Such materials are used in liquid crystal displays.
Amorphous materials- Materials, including glasses that have no long-range order
or crystal structure.
Glass-ceramics - A family of materials typically derived from molten inorganic
glasses and
processed into crystalline materials with very fine grain size and improved
mechanical properties.
Coordinator Number the number of atoms touching a particular atom or the
number of nearest neighbours for the particular atom
Packing factor the fraction of space occupied by atoms assuming that the atoms
are hard spheres. The general expression for packing factor is
Packing factor =

( number of atom per cell ) (volume of each atom)

volume of unit cell
2

( humber of atom per cell ) ( 4 r )

3
3
ao
Density