2.

1 The structure of
Crystalline solids

1
Chapter outline
Fundamental concepts •Crystallographic
• Crystallization planes
• Unit cells
• Metallic Crystal Structures
•Single crystal and
Polycrystalline
• Density Computations
materials
• Polymorphism and allotropy
• Crystal system
• Point Coordinates
• Crystallographic directions
2
Fundamental concepts
• Crystallization-solids formed from liquid or gas
• Solid materials may be classified according to the
regularity with which atoms or ions are arranged with
A to
respect crystalline
one [Link] is one in which
the atoms are situated in a repeating or
periodic array over large atomic
distances

3
4
Fundamental concepts
• When crystalline structures are described, atoms (or ions)
are thought of as being solid spheres having well-defined
diameters.
• This is termed the atomic hard-sphere model in which
spheres representing nearest-neighbor atoms touch one
another.
• The term lattice is used often to mean a three-dimensional
array of points coinciding with atom positions (or sphere
lattice
centers)

5
Unit cells
• A crystalline material is one in which the atoms are
situated in a repeating or periodic array over large
atomic distances
• These small repeating units are called Unit cells
Size of atoms:

Unit cells

6
Metallic Crystal Structures
• Three relatively simple crystal structures are found for
most of the common metals:
• The Face-Centered Cubic Crystal Structure

• The Body-Centered Cubic Crystal Structure

• The Hexagonal Close-Packed Crystal Structure

7
The Face-Centered Cubic Crystal Structure

• Unit cell of cubic geometry, with atoms located at each of

the corners and the centers of all the cube faces.
• These spheres or ion cores touch one another across a face
diagonal; the cube edge length a and the atomic radius R
are related through

a
R

8
The Face-Centered Cubic Crystal
Structure
• Calculating the number of atom per
unit cell,

• For the FCC crystal structure, there Ni the number of interior atoms
Nf the number of face atoms
are 8 corner atoms and 6 face atoms Nc the number of corner atoms
and no interior atom then;

• Coordination number each atom

has the same number of nearest-
neighbor or touching atoms for FCC
it is 12
• Atomic packing factor (APF)=for 9
FCC 0.74
The Body-Centered Cubic Crystal Structure

• Cubic unit cell with atoms located at all eight corners and
a single atom at the cube center.
• and corner atoms touch one another along cube diagonals,
and unit cell length a and atomic radius R are related
through

10
11
The Body-Centered Cubic Crystal
Structure
• Calculating the number of atom per
unit cell,

• For the BCC crystal structure, there Ni the number of interior atoms
Nf the number of face atoms
are 8 corner atoms and 0 face atoms Nc the number of corner atoms
and 1 interior atom then;

• Coordination number each atom

has the same number of nearest-
neighbor or touching atoms for FCC
it is 8
• Atomic packing factor (APF)=for 12
BCC 0.68
The Hexagonal Close-Packed Crystal Structure

• Not all metals have unit cells with cubic symmetry some
have Hexagonal close packed structure.

13
The Hexagonal Close-Packed Crystal
Structure
• Calculating the number of atom per unit
cell,

c/a=1.633

• Atomic packing factor (APF)=for

HCP 0.74 4
6∗ 𝜋 𝑅
3

• Coordination number
3
3 8𝜋 𝑅
¿
of 12
= =0.74
( )
2
3 𝑎 𝑐 √3
2
3
∗ ( 2 𝑅 ) ∗ 1.6333(2 𝑅) √ 3
2 2

14
Density Computations
• Understanding the crystal structure of a metallic solid
permits computation of its theoretical density

literature values show

•A hypothetical metal has the BCC crystal structure, a density

of 7.24 g/cm3, and an atomic weight of 48.9 g/mol. What is the
atomic radius of this metal? 15
Polymorphism and allotropy
• Having more than one crystal structure, a phenomenon
known as polymorphism. When found in elemental
solids, the condition is often termed allotropy.
• Prevailing crystal structure depends on both the
temperature and the external pressure.
• Most often a modification of the density and other physical
properties accompanies a polymorphic transformation.
• Examples;
• Carbon, graphite is the stable polymorph at ambient condition on
the other hand diamond is formed at extremely high pressures.
• Iron (Fe) has BCC structure at room temperature and changes to
FCC at 912oC.
16
Polymorphism and allotropy
• E.g. Tin (Sn) [Link]

• White tin, having a BCC

tetragonal crystal
structure at room
temperature, transforms,
at 13.2oC to gray tin
crystal structure similar
to that of diamond.
• The transformation result
in an increase in volume
(27%), and a decrease in
density (from 7.30 g/cm3
to 5.77 g/cm3)
17
Crystal system
• Thereare seven different possible combinations of lattice
parameters a, b, and c and α, β and γ each of which
represents a distinct crystal system.

18
19
Periodic table and crystalline structure of
elements

20
Crystallographic Points, Directions, and Planes

• When talking about

crystalline materials, it often
becomes necessary to specify
a particular point within a
unit cell, a crystallographic
direction, or some
crystallographic plane.

• This is required since crystals

may have different property [Link]
along different points,
directions and plans. E.g.
When there is a dislocation in
21
crystal.
Point Coordinates
• Usually physicist use point
coordinates
• Helps to specify a lattice position
within a unit cell using three
point coordinate indices: q, r, and
s. These indices are fractional
multiples of a, b and c.
• E.g. find the point coordinates
for the points shown in the
figure.

22
Crystallographic directions
•A crystallographic direction is
2
defined as a line directed between
two points, or a vector.
• How to determine direction 1
1. A right-handed x-y-z coordinate
system is first constructed.
2. The coordinates of two points that
lie on the direction vector.
3. Tail point coordinates are subtracted
from head point components (2-1).
4. These coordinate differences are
then normalized in terms of a, b and
c.
5. reduce them to the smallest integer
values then put them in the form of
[uvw]
23
Crystallographic directions
• [Link] the indices for the
direction shown in the
accompanying figure.

•] 24
Crystallographic planes
• Crystallographic planes(an imaginary flat surface that
passes through atoms in a crystal lattice in a regular,
repeating pattern)are specified by three Miller indices
(represent a crystal plane by telling us how that plane
cuts through the crystal axes) as (hkl), plane determined by
finding h, k and l.

25
Crystallographic planes
• Determine the Miller indices for
the plane shown in the figure.

26
Steps
[Link] the plane passes through the selected origin, either another parallel
plane must be constructed within the unit cell by an appropriate
translation, or a new origin must be established at the corner of
another unit cell.

[Link] crystallographic plane either intersects or parallels each of the

three axes. The coordinate for the intersection of the crystallographic
plane with each of the axes is determined, the intersections A B C.
A=a∞, B=-b , C=c/2
27
Steps
[Link] reciprocals of these numbers are taken. A plane that
parallels an axis is considered to have an infinite intercept and
therefore a zero index.
[Link] reciprocals of the intercepts are then normalized in terms
of (i.e., multiplied by) their respective a, b, and c lattice
parameters.

[Link] necessary, these three numbers are changed to the set of

smallest integers by multiplication or by division by a common
factor.
[Link], the integer indices, not separated by commas, are
enclosed within parentheses, thus: (hkl). ()
28
29