Chapter 4

What is the coordination number of a simple cubic structure?

Coordination number is defined as the number of nearest neighboring atoms in

crystals. The coordination number for the simple cubic structure is 6, whereas it is 8
and 12 for BCC and FCC respectively.

What is the atomic radius of a BCC crystal structure?

Atomic radius is defined as half the distance between the centers of two neighboring
atoms. The atomic radius of a simple cube and HCP is a/2 respectively, whereas it is
a√2/4 and a√3/4 for FCC and BCC respectively.

Consider the BCC unit cell shown above

Using the triangle NOP
2 2 2 2
( NP)  a  a  2a

And then for triangle NPQ,

2 2 2
( NQ)  (QP)  ( NP)

But NQ = 4R, R being the atomic radius. Also, QP = a. Therefore,

2
(4R)  a  2a
2 2

4R
a
3
Chapter 6

Why do we need a reciprocal lattice?

Reciprocal lattice provides a simple geometrical basis for understanding:
a) All things of "wave nature" (like behavior of electron and lattice vibrations in
crystals.
b) The geometry of x-ray and electron diffraction patterns.

BCC direct lattice basic vector:

 1   
a  ( i  j  k )
2
 1   
b  (i  j  k )
2
 1   
c  (i  j  k )
2

Express the direct space lattice vectors such that they frame only a primitive unit
cell.
  1 i j k
 b xc v   
a  1 1 1  a  j  k
v 4
1 1 1

 c xa    
b b  k i
v
 
 axb   
c c i  j
v
These operation will result in a prefactor about the calculated reciptocal lattice vectors, however
these are relatively unimportant. They are essentially just scaling factors; it is the direction that
encode the more important information.