Chapter-3
Atomic Arrangements
(Structure of Crystalline
•
Solids)
How do atoms assemble into solid structures?
Table of Contents
-Importance of atomic structure
-Architecture of Solids
-Crystalline Solids
- Polycrystalline Solids
- Amorphous Solids
-Space Lattice
-Unit Cells
-Polymorphism and Allotropy
-Principal Metallic Crystal Structure
FCC, BCC, HCP – unit cell geometries, atomic
arrangement, coordination number, atomic packing
factor, Examples of FCC, BCC, HCP
-Crystal Structure System
-Miller Indices for Directions
-Miller Indices for Planes
Hard-sphere unit cell Reduced-sphere unit cell
POLYMORPHISM
is the ability of an object to take on or having many forms
ALLOTROPY
Property or phenomenon of the existence of two or more different physical forms of an
element
Some elements show allotropy due to the following reasons: Firstly, the methods of
formation or preparation of the element are different. Secondly, the arrangement of atoms
in a given form changes according to its method of formation or preparation. Thirdly, the
element has different energies in different forms.
Crystal structure having cubic unit
cell with atoms located at all eight
corners and a single atom at the cube unit cell length a and atomic radius
center. This is called a are related through
body-centered
Examples- cubic (BCC) crystal
structure.
Chromium, iron,
tungsten
Unit cell is of
Cubic
geometry
Examples-
Copper, Al, Silver,
Gold etc.
The crystal structure found for
many metals has a unit cell of
cubic geometry, with atoms
located at each of the corners
and the centers of all the cube
faces. It is aptly called the face-
centered cubic (FCC) crystal
structure
the cube edge length a and the
atomic radius R are related through
Determine the volume of a FCC unit cell
OR
How the volume of a FCC unit cell is
Show that the APF for FCC crystal structure is 0.74
The coordination number and the atomic packing factor for the HCP crystal
structure are the same as for FCC: 12 and 0.74, respectively. The HCP
metals include cadmium, magnesium, titanium, and zinc;
FCC BCC
HCP
FCC/HCP BCC
[Link]
[Link]
MILLER INDICES
MILLER INDICES
PROCEDURE FOR FINDING MILLER INDICES
DETERMINATION OF MILLER INDICES
IMPORTANT FEATURES OF MILLER INDICES
CRYSTAL DIRECTIONS
SEPARATION BETWEEN LATTICE PLANES
MILLER INDICES
The crystal lattice may be regarded as made
up of an infinite set of parallel equidistant
planes passing through the lattice points
which are known as lattice planes.
In simple terms, the planes passing through
lattice points are called ‘lattice planes’.
For a given lattice, the lattice planes can be
chosen in a different number of ways.
The orientation of planes or faces in a crystal can be
described in terms of their intercepts on the three
axes.
Miller introduced a system to designate a plane in a
crystal.
He introduced a set of three numbers to specify a
plane in a crystal.
This set of three numbers is known as ‘Miller Indices’
of the concerned plane.
Miller indices is defined as the reciprocals of
the intercepts made by the plane on the three
axes.
Procedure for finding Miller Indices
Step 1: Determine the intercepts of the plane
along the axes X,Y and Z in terms of
the lattice constants a,b and c.
Step 2: Determine the reciprocals of these
numbers.
Step 3: Find the least common denominator (lcd)
and multiply each by this lcd.
Step 4:The result is written in [Link] is
called the `Miller Indices’ of the plane in
the form (h k l).
This is called the `Miller Indices’ of the plane in the form
(h k l).
Miller Indices for Planes
Miller Indices are a symbolic vector representation for the orientation of
an atomic plane in a crystal lattice and are defined as the reciprocals of
the fractional intercepts which the plane makes with the crystallographic
axes. ... In other words, how far along the unit cell lengths does
the plane intersect the axis.
The procedure used to determine the h, k, and l index numbers is as
follows:
1. If 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.
2. At this point the crystallographic plane either intersects or parallels
each of the three axes; the length of the planar intercept for each axis
is determined in terms of the lattice parameters a, b, and c.
3. The reciprocals of these numbers are taken. A plane that parallels
an axis may be considered to have an infinite intercept, and, therefore,
a zero index.
4. If necessary, these three numbers are changed to the set of smallest
integers by multiplication or division by a common factor. 3
5. Finally, the integer indices, not separated by commas, are enclosed
Significance of Miller Indices
In Materials Science it is important to have a notation system for
atomic planes since these planes influence –
•Optical properties
•Reactivity
•Surface tension
•Dislocations
Rules for determining Miller Indices-
1. Determine the intercepts of the face
along the crystallographic axes, in
terms of unit cell dimensions
2. Take the reciprocals
3. Clear fractions
4. Reduce to lowest terms
ILLUSTRATION
Plane ABC has intercepts of 2 units along X-axis, 3
units along Y-axis and 2 units along Z-axis.
In the above plane, the intercept along X axis is 1 unit.
The plane is parallel to Y and Z axes. So, the intercepts
along Y and Z axes are ‘’.
Now the intercepts are 1, and .
The reciprocals of the intercepts are = 1/1, 1/ and 1/.
Therefore the Miller indices for the above plane is (1 0 0).
[Link]
Calculate the properties of crystalline materials based on the crystal structure (e.g.,
You will be able to
mass density and the relative sizes of interstitial sites.
Imp questions
Q 1 Derive the Miller Indices for the planes as shown in
Figures below
Q 2 Following a proper procedure, sketch the crystallographic planes for the
given Miller Indices
(a) (2 3 3)
(b) (-1 0 0)
(c) (2 0 1)
(d) (1/2 ½ 1/2)
Q 3 With the help of neat sketches, differentiate between crystalline and
amorphous materials and also provide examples.
Q 4 Prove that the atomic packing factor for a BCC crystal
structure is 0.68
Q 5 What is a coordination number? With the help of neat sketch, explain its values
for FCC and BCC structures.