LECTURE NOTES: November 13, 2020

Course no:508: BSc. (Hons)

SOLID STATE
PHYSICS
Dr. Syed Rizwan Ali

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS, UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI

Crystallographic Planes: Cubic Crystals
MILLER INDICES
Let us first read the procedure from C. Kittel
Miller Indices: Flow Chart
Miller Indices: Examples

 For more examples please see

the class lecture.
Important Planes in a cubic crystal

Taken from: Introduction to Solid State Physics by C. Kittel

 Miller Indices

 Six faces of a cubic crystal are:

(𝟏𝟎𝟎), (𝟎𝟏𝟎), (𝟎𝟎𝟏), (𝟏𝟎𝟎), (𝟎𝟏𝟎), (𝟎𝟎𝟏).

 Planes of equivalent symmetry may be denoted by

curly bracelets (braces) around the indices.

 Cube faces are equivalent by symmetry they can

be represented by *𝟏𝟎𝟎+.

 When we speak of the (𝟐𝟎𝟎) plane we mean a plane

parallel to (𝟏𝟎𝟎) but cutting the axis at 𝟏/𝟐𝒂.
Miller Indices
 Miller Indices
Some general points
 If a Miller index is zero, the plane is parallel to that axis.
 The smaller a Miller index, the more nearly parallel the plane is to
the axis. The larger a Miller index, the more nearly perpendicular
a plane is to that axis.
 Multiplying or dividing a Miller index by a constant has no effect
on the orientation of the plane.

Significance
 Using reciprocals spares us the complication of infinite
intercepts.
 Specifying dimensions in unit cell terms means that the same
label can be applied to any face with a similar stacking pattern,
regardless of the crystal class of the crystal. Face 111 always
steps the same way regardless of crystal system.
Miller Indices
HOMEWORK:
Draw the following Miller Indices within a cubic unit cell.
𝟏𝟏 𝟏 , 𝟑𝟐𝟏 , 𝟑𝟑𝟏 , 𝟑𝟎𝟐 , (𝟑𝟏𝟐), 𝟏𝟎𝟐 , (𝟏𝟏𝟐), 𝟐𝟏 𝟒 , 𝟐𝟐𝟏
Draw only one plane per unit cell.

For further explanation please see your class

notes of the last lecture held on:
FRIDAY 13th November 2020
thanks
Books

A very good book on Solid state Physics is:

Fundamentals of Solid State Physics by

J. Richard Christman (John Wiley & Sons, NY)