MATERIALS SCIENCE

Part of & AALearner’s Guide

Learner’s Guide
ENGINEERING
AN INTRODUCTORY E-BOOK
Anandh Subramaniam & Kantesh Balani
Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur- 208016
Email: anandh@iitk.ac.in, URL: home.iitk.ac.in/~anandh
http://home.iitk.ac.in/~anandh/E-book.htm
 Hexagonal Close Packed Crystal
 While SC, FCC, BCC are Lattices; HCP, DC (Diamond Cubic) are Crystals
 HCP Crystal = Hexagonal Lattice + two identical spheres as motif {at (0,0,0) and (2/3, 1/3, 1/2)}
 Note: there is only one type of Hexagonal Lattice  (Simple Hexagonal Lattice)
(If the spheres are of different size then the crystal is not HCP)
 Like CCP Crystal (CCP Crystal = FCC lattice + single sphere motif) HCP is not
just close packed but is closest packed! (Packing fraction of 0.74  74% of
space is filled with spheres)

Points to be noted:
 HCP has a packing fraction of 74% assuming a hard sphere packing.
 This packing also implies an ideal c/a ratio (see below).
 As real crystals do not have an ideal c/a ratio (table below), this also implies that they are not closest packed in the
‘strictest sense’. Metal c/a
Cd 1.886
Zn 1.856
Mg 1.624
c 2h 2 Zr 1.590
IDEAL c/a  2  1.632...
a a 3 Ti 1.588
Be 1.586
 Hexagonal Lattice HCP crystal

The atoms at c = ½ [e.g. (2/3, 1/3,

1/2)] are part of the motif and is not
located at a lattice point

+
Motif

 As we have seen that HCP crystal is constructed starting with a hexgonal close packed layer, with
ABABAB.. packing.
Two atom Motif  The 6-fold axis (present in a single layer) is lost on ABABAB.. packing and only a 3-fold remains.
 Though 3 unit cells are often shown in diagrams- the rhombic prism (blue outline) is the unit cell.
Spheres at: (0,0,0), (⅔, ⅓,½)

Note: Atoms are coloured differently but are the same

 Q: If the HCP crystal has only a 3-fold axis why does it come under the ‘Hexagonal class*’ of crystals?

A: The HCP crystal has ABAB.. packing. The C site is vacant! A 6 3 Screw axis passes
through the C-sites (along [0001] direction). This six (6) is responsible for the crystal
coming under the hexagonal crystal system (even though there is no usual 6-fold axis)

As hexagonal word would imply 6-fold