CRYSTAL PHYSICS

SYLLABUS
Space lattices,basis,Unit cell, lattice parameter
Seven crystal systems and Fourteen Bravais lattices
Crystal-System structures (Cubic, FCC, BCC)
 Packing factor ( cubic,body and face)
 Crystal structure of NaCl and Diamond
 Lattice planes and Miller Indices, Reciprocal Lattice
Diffraction of X- rays by crystal, Laue’s experiment, Bragg's
Law, Bragg’s spectrometer
INTRODUCTION TO CRYSTAL PHYSICS

Matter exists in three states viz. solids, liquids and

gases.
All these states are composed of atoms and
molecules.
When we focus the solids, they are classified into
many types based on several properties like
electrical, mechanical, magnetic, optical, thermal
etc.,.
The main reason for these different properties of
solids is their crystal structure.
 What is Crystal Physics?

Crystal Physics’ or ‘Crystallography’ is a branch of

physics that deals with the study of all possible
types of crystals and the physical properties of
crystalline solids by the determination of their
actual structure by using X-rays, neutron beams
and electron beams.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SOLIDS

Solids can broadly be classified into two types based on the

arrangement of units of matter.
The units of matter may be atoms, molecules or ions.
They are,
Crystalline solids and
Non-crystalline (or) Amorphous solids
 Crystalline Solid
A substance is said to be crystalline when the arrangement
of units of matter is regular and
periodic.

A crystalline material has directional properties and

therefore called as anisotropic substance.

A crystal has a sharp melting point.

It possesses a regular shape and if it is broken, all

broken pieces have the same regular shape.
 Crystalline Solid
A crystalline material can either be a single
(mono) crystal or a polycrystal.

A single crystal consists of only one crystal,

whereas the polycrystalline material consists of many
crystals separated by well-defined boundaries.

Examples
Metallic crystals – Cu, Ag, Al, Mg etc,
Non-metallic crystals – Carbon, Silicon, Germanium,
 Non Crystalline Solid
In amorphous solids, the constituent particles
are not arranged in an orderly manner. They
are randomly distributed.

They do not have directional properties and so

they are called as `isotropic’ substances.

They have wide range of melting point and do

not possess a regular shape.
Examples:
Glass, Plastics, Rubber etc.,
ATOMIC ARRANGEMENT IN CRYSTALS

(a) mono (or) single crystals

(b) polycrystalline solids
(c) amorphous solids
 SPACE LATTICE

A lattice is a regular and periodic arrangement of points in three

dimension.
It is defined as an infinite array of points in three dimension in which
every point has surroundings identical to that of every other point in the
array.
The Space lattice is otherwise called the Crystal lattice.
Therefore, in the arrangement of points, if the surrounding
environment looks the same when the arrangement is viewed from
different lattice points, then that arrangement is said to be a space
lattice.
 BASIS
A crystal structure is formed by associating every
lattice point with an unit assembly of atoms or
molecules identical in composition, arrangement and
orientation.
This unit assembly is called the `basis’.
When the basis is repeated with correct periodicity in
all directions, it gives the actual crystal structure.
The crystal structure is real, while the lattice is
imaginary.

= +

Crystal structure = Lattice +

Basis
 UNIT CELL

A unit cell is defined as a fundamental building block

of a crystal structure, which can generate the
complete crystal by repeating its own dimensions in
various directions.
 UNIT CELL

Y
B

O A X
C

Z
 LATTICE PARAMETERS

Consider the unit cell as shown in figure.

Let OA, OB and OC are the intercepts made by the
unit cell along X, Y and Z axes respectively.
These intercepts are known as primitives. In
crystallography the intercepts OA, OB and OC are
represented as a , b and c .
 CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC AXES

Consider a unit cell consisting of three mutually

perpendicular edges OA, OB and OC as shown in
figure.
Draw parallel lines along the three edges.
These lines are taken as crystallographic axes and they
are denoted as X, Y and Z axes.
 LATTICE PARAMETERS
The angle between X and Y axes is represented as .

Similarly the angles between Y and Z and Z and X axes are denoted
by  and  respectively as shown in the above figure. These angles
,  and  are called as interaxial angles or interfacial angles.

To represent a lattice, the three interfacial angles and their

corresponding intercepts are essential. These six parameters are said
to be lattice parameters.
 CRYSTALS SYSTEMS
A three dimensional space lattice is generated by repeated
translation of three translational vectors a, b and c. Crystals are
grouped under seven systems on the basis of the shape of the unit
cell.
The seven crystal systems are distinguished from one another by
their lattice parameters .

The seven systems are,

Cubic
Tetragonal
Orthorhombic
Trigonal (rhombohedral)
Hexagonal
Monoclinic and
Triclinic
 CRYSTALS SYSTEMS

The space lattices formed by unit cells are marked by the

following symbols.

Primitive lattice:P  having lattice points only at the

corners of the unit cell.
Body centred lattice:I  having lattice points at
the corners as well as at the body centre of the unit cell.
Face centred lattice:F  having lattice points at the
corners as well as at the face centres of the unit cell.
Base centred lattice:C  having lattice points at the
corners as well as at the top and bottom base
centres of the unit cell.
 BRAVAIS LATTICES

Bravais in 1948 showed that 14 types of unit cells

under seven crystal systems are possible. They
are commonly called as `Bravais lattices’.
 MILLER INDICES
Crystal lattice may be regarded as made up of an
aggregate of a set of parallel equidistant planes,
passing through lattice points, which is known as
lattice plane.
 MILLER INDICES
Orientation of a crystal plane is defined by three points
in a plane, provided that they are not collinear.
Miller indices may be defined as reciprocals of the
intercepts made by the plane on the crystallographic
axes when reduced to smallest numbers.(h,k,l)
 Miller Index
Defining particular plane of the atom with Miller Index
3 steps to determine the Miller Index
Find the intercepts x = 2, y = 3, and z = 2 from figure
Take the reciprocal of the axis length, 1/2, 1/3, and 1/2
Find the lowest common multiplier and then multiply the reciprocal
Then, the Miler Index is (3, 2, 3)…… 6*1/2, 6*1/3, 6*1/2.. Note ( )
Example,
Atomic packing fraction
 THE MOST IMPORTANT
CRYSTAL STRUCTURES

 Sodium Chloride Structure Na+Cl-

 Cesium Chloride Structure Cs+Cl-
 Diamond Structure
 Zinc Blende

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 1 – Sodium Chloride Structure
 Sodium chloride also crystallizes in
a cubic lattice, but with a different
unit cell.
 The sodium chloride structure
consists of equal numbers of
sodium & chlorine ions placed at
alternate points of a simple cubic
lattice.
 Each ion has six of the other kind
of ions as its nearest neighbors.

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 NaCl Structure
This structure can also be considered as a face-
centered-cubic Bravais lattice with a basis
consisting of a sodium ion at 0 and a chlorine
ion at the center of the conventional cell, at
position
  
a / 2(x  y z )
 This structure can also be considered
as a face-centered-cubic Bravais
lattice with a basis consisting of a
sodium ion at 0 and a chlorine ion at
the center of the conventional cell, at
position
  
a / 2(x  y z )
 LiF, NaBr, KCl, LiI, have this
structure.
 The lattice constants are of the order
of 4-7 Angstroms.
 NaCl Structure
 Take the NaCl unit cell & remove all “red” Cl ions, leaving only
the “blue” Na. Comparing this with the fcc unit cell, it is found
to be that they are identical. So, the Na ions are on a fcc
sublattice.

Crystal Structure 34
 DIAMOND CUBIC STRUCTURE

It is formed by carbon atoms.

Every carbon atom is surrounded by four other carbon atoms
situated at the corners of regular tetrahedral by the covalent
linkages.
The diamond cubic structure is a combination of two
interpenetrating FCC sub lattices displaced along the body
diagonal of the cubic cell by 1/4th length of that diagonal.
Thus the origins of two FCC sub lattices lie at (0, 0, 0) and
(1/4, 1/4,1/4)

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 DIAMOND CUBIC STRUCTURE

The points at 0 and 1/2 are on the FCC lattice, those at 1/4 and 3/4

are on a similar FCC lattice displaced along the body diagonal by

one-fourth of its length.
In the diamond cubic unit cell, there are eight corner atoms, six
face centred atoms and four more atoms.
No. of atoms contributed by the corner atoms to an unit cell is
1/8×8 =1.
No. of atoms contributed by the face centred atoms to the unit cell
is 1/2 × 6 = 3
There are four more atoms inside the structure.
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 DIAMOND CUBIC STRUCTURE

No.of atoms present in a diamond cubic unit cell is 1 + 3 + 4 = 8.

Since each carbon atom is surrounded by four more carbon atoms,
the co-ordination number is 4.

ATOMIC RADIUS(R)
From the figure,in the triangle WXY,
XY2 = XW2 + WY2
2 2
a a
= 4   
  4

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 DIAMOND CUBIC STRUCTURE

a2
XY2 =
8
Also in the triangle XYZ,

XZ2 = XY2 + YZ2

2 2
a a
=  
8 4
3a 2
XZ2 =
16
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 DIAMOND CUBIC STRUCTURE

But XZ = 2r
2
3a
(2r)2 =
16
2
4r =
2 3a
16
2
3a
r2=
64
3 a
Atomic radius r =
8

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 DIAMOND CUBIC STRUCTURE

Atomic packing factor (APF)

v
APF = V
4 3
v = 8  r
3
3
4  3a 
i.e. v = 8   
3  8 

8  4  3 3 a 3
APF =
3  83  a 3

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 DIAMOND CUBIC STRUCTURE

 3
APF =  0.34
16

i.e. APF = 34%

Thus it is a loosely packed structure.

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