Class 13
Today’s Topic(s)
Introduction to Solids
Crystal structure, lattice, basis
24th January’ 2025
Fundamental Properties of Matter
Matter - Has mass, occupies space
Mass – Measure of inertia - Newton’s 1st law of motion. It is one of the fundamental physical properties.
States of Matter
1. Solids – Definite volume, definite shape.
2. Liquids – Definite volume, no fixed shape.
3. Gases – No definite volume, no definite shape. Takes the volume and shape of its container.
Solids Liquids Gases
What is Solid State Physics
• Dealing with the properties of solid materials.
• Explains the properties of a collection of atomic nuclei and electrons interacting with electrostatic forces.
• Formulates fundamental laws that govern the behavior of solids.
Now replaced by a more general terminology - Condensed Matter Physics. To include liquids/fluids which in
many cases share same concepts and analytical techniques.
Why should we focus on Crystalline Solids?
• The majority of all solids are crystalline.
• More progress has been made in understanding the behavior of crystalline solids than that of non-
crystalline materials since the calculation are easier in crystalline materials.
• Crystalline solids have a large variety of structures.
• Understanding the properties of solids is right at the heart of modern society and technology.
CRYSTAL STRUCTURES
• Elementary Crystallography
– Solid materials (crystalline, polycrystalline, amorphous)
– Crystallography
– Crystal Lattice
– Crystal Structure
– Types of Lattices
– Unit Cell
• Typical Crystal Structures
(3D– 14 Bravais Lattices and the Seven Crystal System)
Classification of Solids
SOLID MATERIALS
AMORPHOUS
CRYSTALLINE POLYCRYSTALLINE
(Non-crystalline)
Single Crystal
CRYSTALLINE
Crystalline materials are solids with an atomic structure based on a regular repeated pattern.
Single Crystals
• Single crystals have a periodic atomic structure across its whole volume.
• At long range length scales, each atom is related to every other equivalent atom in the structure by
translational or rotational symmetry
Single Crystals
POLYCRYSTALLINE
• Polycrystalline materials are made up of an aggregate of many small single crystals (also called
crystallites or grains).
• Polycrystalline materials have a high degree of order.
• Grains (domains) are separated by grain boundaries. The atomic order can vary from one domain to the
next.
• The grains are usually 100 nm - 100 microns in diameter.
• Polycrystals with grains less than 10 nm in diameter are nanocrystalline.
AMORPHOUS
• Amorphous (Non-crystalline) Solids are made up of randomly orientated atoms , ions, or molecules
that do not form defined patterns or lattice structures.
• Amorphous materials do not have any long-range order, but they have varying degrees of short-range
order.
• Examples to amorphous materials include plastics and glasses.
CRYSTALLOGRAPHY
• Crystallography is a branch of science that deals with the geometric description of crystals and their
internal atomic arrangement.
• It’s important the symmetry of a crystal because it has a profound influence on its properties.
• Structures should be classified into different types according to the symmetries they possess.
• Energy bands can be calculated when the structure has been determined.
CRYSTAL LATTICE
What is a crystal lattice?
In crystallography, only the geometrical properties of the crystal are of interest, therefore one replaces
each atom by a geometrical point located at the equilibrium position of that atom.
y
• An infinite array of points in space.
B C D E
b α
• Each point has identical surroundings to all others.
O a A x
• Arrays are arranged in a periodic manner.
• Called Bravais lattice.
Crystal Structure
• Crystal structures can be obtained by attaching atoms, groups of atoms or molecules which are called
basis to the lattice sides of the lattice point.
The Unit Cell Concept
• The simplest repeating unit in a crystal is called a unit cell.
• Each unit cell is defined in terms of lattice points. Lattice point not necessarily at an atomic site.
• Not unique. There can be several unit cells of a crystal.
•The smallest possible unit cell is called primitive cell or primitive unit cell of a particular crystal structure. A
primitive cell must contain precisely one lattice point.
• For each crystal structure, a conventional unit cell, is chosen to make the lattice as symmetric as possible.
However, the conventional unit cell is not always the primitive unit cell.
A two-dimensional Bravais lattice with different
choices for the basis
Five Bravais Lattices in 2D
Unit Cell
• The unit cell and, consequently, the entire
lattice, is uniquely determined by the six
lattice constants/parameters: a, b, c, α, β
and γ.
• Only 1/8 of each lattice point in a unit cell
can actually be assigned to that cell.
• Each unit cell in the figure can be
associated with 8 x 1/8 = 1 lattice point.
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TYPICAL CRYSTAL STRUCTURES
3D – 14 BRAVAIS LATTICES AND SEVEN CRYSTAL TYPES
• Cubic Crystal System (SC, BCC,FCC)
• Hexagonal Crystal System (S)
• Triclinic Crystal System (S)
• Monoclinic Crystal System (S, Base-C)
• Orthorhombic Crystal System (S, Base-C, BC, FC)
• Tetragonal Crystal System (S, BC)
• Trigonal (Rhombohedral) Crystal System (S)
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Crystal Structure 18