Phy 4221

Engineering Physics II

Dr. Aminul I. Talukder

Professor of Physics, University of Dhaka
and
Part Time Teacher of Physics
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE)
IUT
 Crystal Structure

Lattice + Basis = Crystal Structure

In 1848, Bravais introduced that-
The real crystal can be visualized by an imaginary geometrical
concept called “Lattice”.

a
Atoms

a
𝑹𝒏 = 𝑛1 𝒂
1D Lattice

Lattice points/sites Origin

𝒂 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠
 Lattice & Basis
In crystallography, only the
geometrical properties of the
crystal are of interest, rather than
those arising from the particular
atoms constituting the crystal.
Therefore, if one replaces each
atom by a geometrical point
located at the equilibrium position
of the atom, the result is a pattern
of points having the same
geometrical properties as the
crystal, but which is devoid of any
physical contents. This geometrical
pattern is the crystal lattice or
simply the lattice; all the atomic
sites have been replaced by lattice
sites.
 Lattice & Basis
In other words, an ideal crystal is constructed by the infinite repetition of
identical group of atoms. A group is called the basis. The set of mathematical
points to which the basis/group is attached is called the lattice. If the
translation a is combined with another noncollinear translation b, then a two
dimensional array is obtained, and the corresponding collection of points
shown in Fig. (below) is called a two dimensional or a plane lattice.

Fig: Two dimensional array of (a) objects, (b) points; a plane lattice
 Lattice & Basis
Finally, if the plane pattern having repetition intervals, a and b is
combined with a third noncoplanar translation c, . In a similar way
noncoplanar translation c, then a three dimensional array is
obtained. In a similar way as mentioned above, the corresponding
collection of points shown in the Fig. (below) dimensional or a
space lattice.

Fig: Three dimensional array of (a) objects, (b) points; space lattice
b Atoms

𝑹𝒏 = 𝑛1 𝑎+
Ԧ 𝑛2 𝑏
2D Lattice
𝒂 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝒃 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑
𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠

Origin
 Lattice
❖ A lattice is a geometrical concept of a real crystal, in which
points are arranged such that the environment about each
and every point is identical to that of each other.

❖ It may be considered as removal of atom but the center

remains there.
 Translation Vectors
We know, the lattice is defined by fundamental translation vectors. For
example, the position vector of any lattice site of the two-dimensional lattice
in Fig. (below) can be written as
𝑇 = 𝑛1 𝑎Ԧ1 + 𝑛2 𝑎Ԧ2
Where, 𝑎Ԧ1 and 𝑎Ԧ2 are two vectors and 𝑛1 and 𝑛2 are two integers whose
values depend on the lattice site.

So, the two non-collinear vectors 𝑎Ԧ1 and 𝑎Ԧ2 can be used to obtain the positions
of all lattice points which are expressed by above Eq. The set of all vectors 𝑇
expressed by this equation is called the lattice vectors. Therefore, the lattice
has a translational symmetry under displacements specified by the lattice
vectors 𝑇. In this sense the vectors 𝑎Ԧ1 and 𝑎Ԧ2 can be called the primitive
translation vectors. The choice of the primitive translations vectors is not
unique. One could equally well take the vectors 𝑎Ԧ1 and 𝑎Ԧ = 𝑎Ԧ1 + 𝑎Ԧ2 as primitive
translation vectors. This choice is usually dictated by convenience.
 Basis
❖ The structural unit which is an atom or a group of atoms, which has to be
repeated at each and every lattice point of a given lattice structure to get
corresponding crystal structure-----is called a Basis. The basis of the crystal
structure can be identified once the crystal axes have been chosen. A
crystal is made by adding a basis to every lattice point-of course the
lattice points are just mathematical constructions. The number of atoms
in the basis may be one, or it may be more than one.

❖ In placing the Basis at each and every lattice point---Chemical uniformity

and orientation should be maintained identically.
Lattice + Basis = Crystal Structure
 Lattice Types
There are two classes of lattices: the Bravais and the non-Bravais.
In a Bravais lattice all lattice points are equivalent and hence by necessity all
atoms in the crystal are of the same kind. On the other hand, in a non-Bravais
lattice, some of the lattice points are non-equivalent.
Just look at the Fig. (below), the lattice sites A, B, C are equivalent to each
other. Also the sites A1, B1, C1, are equivalent among themselves. However,
sites A and A1 are not equivalent: the lattice is not invariant under translation
AA1.
Non-Bravais lattices are often referred to as a lattice with a basis, and the basis
is a set of atoms which is located near each site of a Bravais lattice. Thus, in Fig.
the basis is represented by the two atoms A and A1.

Fig: Bravais and non-Bravais lattice

Unit Cell
Unit Cell
Primitive and Non-primitive Unit Cell
Primitive Non-primitive Unit Cell
Primitive or Non-primitive?
 Wigner-Seitz unit cell
There is a special type of primitive cell known as Wigner-Seitz cell. This
primitive cell may be chosen as shown in Fig. (below).
(i) Draw lines to connect a given lattice point to all nearby lattice points.
(ii) At the midpoint and normal to these lines, draw new lines (planes in 3D).
Then the smallest volume enclosed is the Wigner-Seitz primitive cell. All the
space of the crystal may be filled by these primitive cells, by translating the
unit cell by the lattice vectors.

Fig.: 2D-construction of a Wigner-Seitz cell: One chooses any lattice point and draws
connecting lines to its closest neighbors. In a second step one constructs the
perpendicular bisectors of the connecting lines. The enclosed area is the Wigner-Seitz
cell. It forms a unit cell, i.e. is able to build the whole lattice without gaps/overlaps.
 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬

1. Solid State Physics: M. A. Wahab

2. Elementary Solid State Physics: Principles and Applications: M. A. Omar
3. Introduction to Solid State Physics: Charles Kittel