Why Study Structures of Materials?

Lecture 3
Structures of Metals Basic structural unit 2D representation
of a quartz crystal lattice

and Ceramics

2D representation of
the amorphous structure. 3

Some Examples to
Why Study Structures of Materials? Atomic Arrangements in Crystalline Materials

Aluminum

Diamond

Graphite 2 Sodium Chloride Graphite 4

Fundamental Concepts Fundamental Concepts
Crystalline solid: Crystal lattice:
Well-ordered, definite arrangements of molecules, atoms or ions. Crystals Three-dimensional stacking of unit cells is the crystal lattice.
have an ordered, repeated Long Range Order structure.
A Lattice:
A Crystal

A Crystal

A lattice is array of points, each of which is indistinguishable from other

points and has identical surroundings

5 7

Fundamental Concepts Fundamental Concepts

Unit cell: Basis
The smallest repeating unit in a crystal is a unit cell. A basis is any object or combination of objects (atoms or molecules) that
Unit cell is the smallest unit with all the symmetry of the entire crystal. can be assigned to a lattice point

The Crystal Structure

The Lattice The Basis

The Unit Cell

6 The crystal structure is a combination of lattice + basis 8
 A Lattice and a Basis - Example I Metallic Crystal Structures
Three Basic cubic-
cubic-crystal Structure z
x

The simple cubic (sc) crystal structure a

p Only Polonium (Po) is crystallized in the simple
cubic crystal. y

p Each corner of the cubic lattice is occupied by an

x
The Crystal Structure atom.
p The coordination number for sc is 6; each corner
The Lattice The Basis atom has six nearest neighbors.
p Unit cell length a=2R
p Atomic Packing Factor (APF)

Volume of atoms in unit cell

APF = 1 4
Unit cell v olume 8 atoms × × π R3 π
APF = 8 3 = = 0.52
( 2 R)
3
6
Notice: 52% of the sc unit cell volume is filled with hard spheres
The crystal structure is a combination of lattice + basis 9
48% of the volume is empty
11

A Lattice and a Basis - Example II The Face-Centered Cubic (FCC) crystal structure
p 1 atom at the center of the 6 cubic faces in addition to
the 8 corner atoms.
p Atoms touch one another across the face diagonal, so
unit cell length, a and the R are related by

4R = a 2 , ⇒ a = 2 R 2
The Crystal Structure p Each atom has 12 nearest-neighboring atoms.
The Lattice The Basis p A large number of elements exhibit the FCC lattice form,
including aluminum, nickel, copper, silver, lead, gold,
and platinum.

or  1 1 4
8× + 6  × π R
3
1/8
 8 2 3 π
1/2 APF = = = 0.74
( )
R 3
2R 2 3 2
1/8
Notice:74% of the fcc unit cell volume is filled with hard spheres
The crystal structure is a combination of lattice + basis 10
a 26% of the volume is empty
12
The Body-Centered Cubic (BCC) crystal structure The Hexagonal Close-Packed (HCP) crystal structure
p In addition to eight corner atoms, an atom is located at the p Atomic Packing Factor of HCP
center of the cube. a = 2 R,
p each atom has 8 nearest neighboring atoms.
p Chromium, Iron, Molybdenum, Sodium and Tungsten c = 4R 2 3
exhibit bcc structure.
p Center and corner atoms touch one h
c
another along cube diagonal, so unit
a
cell length, a and the R are related by a 2R

a
4R = a 3, ⇒ a = 4 R 3
 1 1  4
 1  4 3  4 × + 4 × + 1 × π R
3
R 1/8  8 × + 1 × π R  12 6  3 π
π 3 APF = = = 0.74
APF = 
1 8  3
= = 0.68
(
4R / 3
3
8 ) ( 2R × 2 R × sin 60) × 4R 2 3 3 2

Notice: 68% of the bcc unit cell volume is filled with hard spheres Notice: 74% of the hcp unit cell volume is filled with hard spheres
a 32% of the volume is empty 13 26% of the volume is empty 15

The Hexagonal Close-Packed (HCP) crystal structure DENSITY COMPUTATIONS—METALS

p The top and bottom faces of the unit cell consist of six nA # of atoms / uc. × atomic weight
atoms that form regular hexagons and surround a single ρ= =
atom in the center. VC NA Vol. of uc.× Avogadroconstant
c
p Another plane that provides three additional atoms to Example:
the unit cell is situated between the top and bottom At 300 ºK the lattice constant (a) for silicon is 5.43 Å. Calculate the number of
planes. silicon atoms per cubic centimeter and density of silicon at room temperature.
p each atom has 12 nearest neighboring atoms. a (Atomic weight of Si: 28.09 g/mole, NA = 6.02x1023 atoms/mole and Number of
Atoms Per Unit cell is 8 )
p Zinc, Titanium, Cobalt, Cadmium exhibit hcp structures.
Solution

a = 2R, Number of Atoms Per Unit Volume=

8
=
8 22
= 5 ×10 atoms / cm
3
a3 (5. 43 ×10 −8 )3
h=a 2 3 # of atoms / cm3 × atomic weight
h Density =
c c = 2h Avogadro constant
c 2 2 5 × 10 22 ( atoms / cm3 ) × 28 .09 ( g / mole )
= = 1.633 = = 2.33 g / cm 3
a a 3 14
6.02 × 10 23 ( atoms / mole ) 16
Consider the Primitive Unit Cell