Structure of Crystalline Solids

Phenomenon • surface of gold - (111) plane

• electron diffraction pattern of a
single crystal GaAs (gallium
arsenide)

• Atoms are periodically arranged in

a crystalline solid

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

Structure of Crystalline Solids (2)

Structure of a solid Structure of crystals
• Structure of a building • Approximation
– building blocks: e. g. bricks – atoms ~ hard spheres of a
– how bricks are laid and bound certain radius
• Building blocks for a solid: atoms • Unit cell: the repeating unit
• How atoms are laid and bound
• Types of possible structures
– amorphous: random packing of
atoms
• e.g. glasses
– crystalline: periodic packing of
atoms (repeating patterns)
• e.g. most engineering
metals and ceramics
• very important

Reading: 3.1-3.6 (6th ed)

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

1
 Structure of Crystalline Solids (3)
Basic types of crystal • 4 (equivalent) atoms are
structures completely contained in a FCC unit
cell
Face-Centered Cubic (FCC)
– each corner atom = 1/8
• one atom at each corner of the
cubic unit cell • 8 x 1/8 = 1
• one atom at each face certer – each face center atom = 1/2
• lattice: 3D array of center • 6 x 1/2 = 3
positions of atoms
IMSE: FCC Structure

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

Structure of Crystalline Solids (4)

Face-Centered Cubic (FCC) • total volume of atoms in a unit cell
• geometric relationships 4 16
FCC
V atoms = 4 × πR 3 = πR 3
a = 2 2R 3 3

• volume of the unit cell • atomic packing factor (APF)

V FCC
= a = 16 2R
3 3 V FCC
UC APF FCC = atoms
FCC = 0.74
VUC
FCC is one of the closest packed structures. It is still only 3 quarters filled by atoms.

Materials
with FCC:
a Al, Cu, Ni

Self Study:
Density
calculation-
Example 3.3

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

2
 Structure of Crystalline Solids (5)
Body-Centered Cubic (BCC) • 2 (equivalent) atoms are
• one atom at each corner of the completely contained in a BCC
cubic unit cell unit cell
• one atom at the body center – each corner atom = 1/8
• 8 x 1/8 = 1
– the body center atom = 1

IMSE: BCC Structure

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

Structure of Crystalline Solids (6)

Body-Centered Cubic (BCC) • total volume of atoms in a unit cell
• geometric relationships 4 8
BCC
V atoms = 2 × πR 3 = πR 3
4R 3 3
a=
3
• atomic packing factor (APF)
• volume of the unit cell V BCC
APF BCC = atoms
BCC = 0.68
64 R 3 VUC
BCC
VUC = a3 =
3 3
BCC is not as densely packed as FCC

Materials
with BCC:
a α–Fe, Cr, W

4R
4R Self Study:
Density
calculation-
? tutorial question

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

3
 Structure of Crystalline Solids (7)
Hexagonal Close-Packed (HCP) • 6 (equivalent) atoms are contained
• unit cell is a hexagon in a unit cell
• c/a = 1.633 (ideal value) • as close packed as FCC (APF =
0.74)
IMSE: HCP Structure
Materials
with HCP:
Mg, α-Ti,
Zn

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

Structure of Crystalline Solids (8)

Cubic crystal systems • coordinates
• way of describing unit cells – right hand system: x, y, z
– general – use a as one unit
α " β " γ; a " b " c
– Cubic
α = β = γ = 90° 011
a=b=c 001
111

101
111
222

000 010

100 110

Reading: 3.7-3.10 (excluding hexagonal)

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

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 Structure of Crystalline Solids (9)
Indexing crystallographic
directions
• a system of describing directions
in crystals - Miller indices
[111]
B 1/2
A • components of vector: 0, 1,
[021]
[100] [110]
436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials
Structure of Crystalline Solids (10)
• family of directions
– <100> includes [100], [010]
and [001] as well as
[1 00 ] [0 1 0 ] [00 1 ]
– <110> includes [110], [101],
[011], [1 1 0 ] [1 10 ] ……
[1 10 ]
[110]
436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials
• convention and procedure
– the indices, uvw, of a direction
are simply the components of
the equivalent vector (projected
lengths of the direction on x, y
and z)
– make uvw smallest integers
– put any minus sign on top
– use [uvw] to indicate a
particular direction
direction A
1/2
• smallest integers: 0, 2, 1
(x 2, i.e. double the length)
• direction A = [021]
direction B = [00 1 ]
Dr. K. Xia
– <111> includes ……
homework: fill in the rest of the <110> and
<111> family members
– members of a family have the
same arrangement of atoms
(for a cubic system) although
they are different directions
[111]
[1 1 1 ]
Dr. K. Xia
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 Structure of Crystalline Solids (11)
Indexing crystallographic • convention and procedure
planes – the indices, hkl, of a plane are
• a system of describing planes in the reciprocals of the intercepts
crystals - Miller indices of the plane with x, y and z
– make hklsmallest integers
– put any minus sign on top
the intercept on z is "
– use (hkl) to indicate a particular
(111) (110) plane
plane A
• intercepts: x = 1, y = 1/2
2/3 and z = 2/3
• reciprocals of intercepts: 1,
2, 3/2
A 1/2
• smallest integers
(reciprocals x 2): 2, 4, 3
(010) • plane A = (243)
the intercepts on x & z are "

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

Structure of Crystalline Solids (12)

• family of planes – {111} includes ……
– {100} includes (100), (010) homework: fill in the rest of the {110} and
{111} family members
and (001)
– members of a family have the
– {110} includes (110), (101),
same arrangement of atoms
(011), (1 1 0 ) (10 1 ) ……
(for a cubic system) although
(001) they are different planes
• equivalent planes (they are exactly
the same), e.g. (001) and (00 1 )

(010) (001)

(100)

(00 1 )
436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

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 Structure of Crystalline Solids (13)
Packing of atoms in FCC
and HCP
• close-packed plane (e.g. layer
A)
• interstitial sites
– B: e.g. the up right triangles
– C: e.g. the upside down
triangles
• stacking of close-packed
C
planes A
– first layer = A
– second layer = B
– third layer
• = C: ABCABC ...
packing The third layer can be either C or A, but not both
• = A: ABAB … packing on the same layer!

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Reading: 3.12 (6th ed) Dr. K. Xia

Structure of Crystalline Solids (14)

• ABC packing = FCC Viewing
6
direction
1
1

5
1 3
2

4
3
6 2

1
1 5
1
2 3
Projection along the
2 3 4 viewing direction

Video - Open Uni. T201/VC1:1

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

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 Structure of Crystalline Solids (15)
• AB packing = HCP

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

Structure of Crystalline Solids (16)

Noncrystalline solids Some questions
• amorphous Why a material takes a certain
packing of atoms is random structure, e.g. Al is FCC?
Si So that the lowest potential
O energy is achieved
Can a material takes more than one
structure?
– For some materials, yes
e.g. Fe is BCC (ferrite) at
Crystalline (2D) room temperature, but
SiO2 transforms to FCC
Glass (2D)
(austenite) at 912°C
– Why?
Cristobalite Again, to lower the potential
energy corresponding to
conditions (e.g.
temperature)
Reading: 3.17 (6th ed)
436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia

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 Structure of Crystalline Solids - Summary
Phenomenon Quantitative description
• Periodic diffraction patterns by X- • Miller indices for directions and
ray or electrons planes
• Atomic images showing periodic – indexing directions or planes
patterns – plotting directions or planes
from indices
Basic structures
• FCC & BCC Physical understanding
• Unit cells • Structures are determined by
– geometric relationships atomic structure and bonding
– density – minimum potential energy for
– packing factor the solid
– structural changes

436-101 Unit 2: Engineering Materials Dr. K. Xia