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Q) Determine the Miller indices of a plane that makes intercepts of 4Å, 3Å and 8Å on the
coordinate axes of an orthorhombic lattice with the ratio of the axial lengths as:
a:b:c=2:3:1
A) This problem is about the very basic definition of Miller indices and how to derive them.
X Y Z
Intercepts 4Ǻ 3Ǻ 8Ǻ
Lattice parameters 2x 3x 1x
4 3 8
Ratio
2x 3x 1x
x x
Reciprocal x
2 8
1 1
Factoring common factors 1
2 8
Integer form (4 8 1)
Q) What are the miller indices of the line of intersection of a (1 11) and (1 1 1) plane in a
cubic crystal?
A) We shall arrive at the solution by a geometrical method and by an analytical method.
Geometrical Method
Note: (1 1 1) (111) , (1 11) (11 1)
(111)
[1 10] [110]
(111)
Analytical Method-1
Weiss zone law states that if a direction [u v w] is contained in plane (h k l) then:
hu kv lw 0
(1 11) u v w 0
w0
& the indices of the direction are of the form [u u 0] .
u v
(1 1 1) u v w 0
As miller indices are written after factoring out common factors the miller indices are: [1 10]
or the opposite direction [ 1 10] .
Analytical Method-2
Using equation of a line in intercept form (a, b, c are intercepts along x, y, z axis
respectively):
x y z
1 . Substituting the intercepts for the two planes and solving simultaneously we
a b c
get the equation for the line of intersection:
x y z 1
2x 2 y 2
x y z 1
x y 1 y x 1 (slope = 1 and intercept = 1)
[1 10] & [110]
O
Directions
y = - x- 1 with same
Miller indices