Homework #3

1. Interplanar separation. Consider a plane hkl in a crystal lattice. (a) Prove that the
r r r r
reciprocal lattice vector G = hb1 + kb2 + lb3 is perpendicular to this plane. (b) Prove
that the distance between two adjacent parallel planes of the lattice is
r
d ( hkl ) = 2π / | G | . (c) Show for a cubic lattice that d 2 = a 2 /(h 2 + k 2 + l 2 ) .

2. Hexagonal space lattice. The primitive translation vector of the hexagonal space
lattice may be taken as
r 3a a r 3a a r
a1 = xˆ + yˆ ; a2 = − xˆ + yˆ ; a3 = czˆ .
2 2 2 2
(a) Show that the volume of the primitive cell is ( 3 / 2)a 2 c .
(b) Show that the primitive translations of the reciprocal lattice are
r 2π 2π r 2π 2π r 2π
b1 = xˆ + yˆ ; b2 = − xˆ + yˆ ; b3 = zˆ ,
3a a 3a a c
so that the lattice is its own reciprocal, but with a rotation of axes.
(c) Describe and sketch the first Brillouin zone of the hexagonal space lattice.

3. Volume of Brillouin zone. Show that the volume of the first Brillouin zone is
( 2π ) 3 / VC where VC is the volume of a crystal primitive cell. Hint: The volume of a
Brillouin zone is equal to the volume of the primitive parallelepiped in Fourier space.
r r r r r r r r
Recall the vector identity ( c × a ) × ( a × b ) = c ⋅ ( a × b )a .

4. For θ−2θ x-ray diffraction (λ=1.5Å) from a fcc sample, if the (111) diffraction peak
appears at 2θ=37.1o, what is the lattice constant of this sample?

5. For θ−2θ x-ray diffraction (λ=1.5Å) from simple cubic polycrystals (a=3.5Å), how
many diffraction peaks are in the 0o<2θ<90o range? Give the index of the lattice for
each diffraction peak.

6. Laue x-ray back diffraction has the following experimental arrangement. For a
specimen of a sc single crystal with the incident x-ray beam parallel to the [00 1 ]
axis,
(a) What is the diffraction angle θ by plane (hkl)?
(b) Make a schematic drawing of the following diffraction peaks on the film.
( 216), ( 2 1 6), ( 2 16), ( 2 1 6), (126), (126), ( 1 26), ( 1 26), ( 205), ( 2 05), (025), (0 25)
 y

[010]

x
[100]

θ
[00 1 ]
x-ray

Film