August 14, 2017 13:7 Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations 9in x 6in b2636-ch01 page 1

by 14.139.171.122 on 03/06/23. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.

Chapter 1

Elements of Crystallography
Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

1.1 Unit Cell

A crystal consists of atoms or molecules arranged in a pattern that
repeats periodically. The unit of the repetition is referred to as a unit cell.
Figure 1.1(a) shows the lattice constants defining the dimension and shape
of the unit cell, that is, a, b, c, α, β and γ. In this book, the face-centered
cubic (FCC) structure, the body-centered cubic (BCC) structure, the dia-
mond structure, the zincblende structure and the hexagonal close-packed
(HCP) structures will be treated mostly, the unit cell of which is shown in
Figs. 1.1(b)–(f). Except for the HCP structure, others belong to the cubic
lattices. That is, the lengths of a, b and c are equal and the axes angles α, β
and γ are 90◦ and can be described most easily with rectangular Cartesian
coordinates. Needless to say, there are more complex crystal structures, but
only a few of them will be treated in this book.

Exercise 1.1 Iron (Fe) crystallizes in two structures. i.e., the FCC (γ-
phase) and the BCC (α-phase) structures. The respective lattice constants
are 0.3571 nm1 and 0.28664 nm (1Å = 0.1 nm). Calculate their densities.
Here, the atomic weight of Fe is 55.845.

1.2 Crystallographic Directions and Planes

A crystallographic direction is indicated by a vector such as shown in
Fig. 1.2(a). A set of crystallographically equivalent directions is indicated

1 γ-phase is stable in a temperature range between 911 and 1394◦ C. This value is extrap-
olated from the high-temperature values to room temperature.

1
August 14, 2017 13:7 Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations 9in x 6in b2636-ch01 page 2

2 Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations

z b
a

c
α
by 14.139.171.122 on 03/06/23. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.

β
y
γ
Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

x
(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 1.1 Typical crystal structures. (a) Cubic lattice, (b) FCC structure, (c) BCC struc-
ture, (d) Diamond structure, (e) Zincblende structure, (f) HCP structure.

[uvw] c
[111] [121] [131]

w y
b
u
v a
[110] [120]

x
(a) (b)

Fig. 1.2 (a) Indication of crystallographic directions, (b) Some examples.

August 14, 2017 13:7 Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations 9in x 6in b2636-ch01 page 3

Elements of Crystallography 3

by
u, v, w. A particular direction is indicated by [u, v, w]. To indicate

the sense of the direction, a notation like [uvw or
uvw] is used [1]. Fig-
ure 1.2(b) shows some directions.
Miller indices are used to indicate crystallographic planes. A particular
plane is indicated by (hkl). A set of crystallographically equivalent planes
by 14.139.171.122 on 03/06/23. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.

is indicated by {hkl}. Figure 1.3(a) shows the definition of (hkl) plane. The
intercepts of the (hkl) plane on the x, y and z-axes are l/h, 1/k and 1/l,
respectively. The sense of a plane is such that the normal drawn from the
Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

origin is positive and vice versa. Figure 1.3(b)–(d) show some examples.
If a plane has Miller index such as (h0l), the plane is parallel to the y-
axis. Figure 1.3(e) shows some examples of (hk0) planes. If the z-axis is
perpendicular to the plane of the paper, all of these planes are parallel to
the z-axis, that is, perpendicular to the plane of the paper.
The negative index is indicated by placing a minus sign above the index:
that is, −h = h̄. For instance, 1̄ indicates −1.

(h̄kl) = (−hkl).
Exercise 1.2 Indicate the direction of the broken line shown in Fig. 1.2(b).

Exercise 1.3 Name all the planes indicated by {110}.

Exercise 1.4 Draw (100), (110), (11̄0), (111), (11̄1), (112) and, (112̄)
planes.

Exercise 1.5 In cubic crystals, the normal to (hkl) plane is coincident to

the direction [hkl ]. Confirm this (Fig. 1.4). This does not necessarily hold
for crystals with low symmetry, for instance, a tetragonal crystal where
a = b = c, α = β = γ = 90◦ . In this case the normal to (101) plane is not
coincident to [101]. Prove this.

1.3 Hexagonal Indices

Indices based on the three axes, a 1 and a 2 and c are generally used for
hexagonal crystals but are open to the objection that equivalent planes
do not have similar indices. For instance, the planes (100) and (1̄10) are
both prismatic planes and are equivalent. The same objection applies to
the indices of directions. For these reasons, the hexagonal indices such as
August 14, 2017 13:7 Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations 9in x 6in b2636-ch01 page 4

4 Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations

by 14.139.171.122 on 03/06/23. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.

(a) (b)
Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

(c) (d)

(010)

(e)

Fig. 1.3 (a)–(e) Miller indices of some important planes.

shown in Fig. 1.5 are used. In addition to the usual a 1 and a 2 axes, a third
axis a 3 is introduced and planes and directions are indicated by (hkil) and
[uvtw], respectively. Here, h, k, i or u, v, t are indices corresponding to the
a 1 , a 2 , and a 3 -axes. l and w are indices corresponding to the c-axis. h, k, i
and u, v, t are related by the equations,

h + k = −i, u + v = −t. (1.1)

August 14, 2017 13:7 Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations 9in x 6in b2636-ch01 page 5

Elements of Crystallography 5

(hkl )
a/l
by 14.139.171.122 on 03/06/23. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.

[hkl >
a/h y

a/k
Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

x
Fig. 1.4 In cubic crystals, [hkl] is perpendicular to (hkl) plane. For crystals other than
cubic structure, this does not necessarily hold.

[120>
[0110>

C a3[110>
[1120>
c

a1 <100]
<2110]

a3 B A
120°
a1 120°

120° a2
<120]
<0110]

Fig. 1.5 Indices for a hexagonal system.

Transformations between the three and four indices, i.e., between (HKL)
and (hkil) and between [UVW] and [uvtw] are given by

H = h, K = k, L = l, i = −(h + k) = −(H + K), (1.2)

U = 2u + v, V = u + 2v, W = w,
1 1
u= (2U − V ), v= (2V − U ), w = W, t = −(u + v). (1.3)
3 3
Figure 1.6 shows some typical directions and planes in a hexagonal crystal.
August 24, 2017 15:33 Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations 9in x 6in b2636-ch01 page 6

6 Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations

c (001)=(0001)
basal c
plane
hexagonal
index
Miller
(100)
index (1210)
by 14.139.171.122 on 03/06/23. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.

prismatic
prismatic a3 plane prismatic
plane a3
plane
a1 (Type II)
a1
Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

a2 a2
(010) prismatic plane (Type I)

(a) (b)
c

pyramidal
plane
a3
(011)
a1

a2
(c)

Fig. 1.6 Indices of some planes in a hexagonal system.

1.4 The Stereographic Projection and the Standard

Projection
Crystallographic axes, planes and angles are described conveniently by a
sphere, known as the reference sphere or polar sphere. This sphere, the
crystal globe, can be compared to the terrestrial globe of the earth. Let
the radius of the globe be unity. In the following, only the cubic system is
considered. A line erected vertically from the origin of the globe is the Z-
axis, that is, [001]. This corresponds to the north arctic pole on the earth.
The south anti-arctic pole is [001̄]. Draw a direction from the origin of
the globe to a point on the equator and let this be the X-axis, i.e., [100].
The circle on the surface of the globe passing through the Z-axis and the
X-axis is the great circle of the latitude 0◦ . On the earth, this great circle
passes through Royal Greenwich Observatory in London. The X-axis passes
August 14, 2017 13:7 Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations 9in x 6in b2636-ch01 page 7

Elements of Crystallography 7

[001>
by 14.139.171.122 on 03/06/23. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.

[010>
Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

<100]

[001>

Fig. 1.7 The Earth is compared to the crystal globe.

through Gulf of Guinea on African West Coast. In the right hand system
the Y -axis is at the latitude 0◦ and at the east longitude 90◦ (on the earth
near Bay of Bengal between Sumatra Island and Sri Lanka).
Crystallographic direction is defined as a vector drawn from the origin
to a point on the surface of crystal globe. Bordeaux in France is located
at east latitude (EL) =∼ 0◦ and north altitude (NA) =∼ 45◦ . Thus, the
crystallographic direction of Bordeaux is [101].

Exercise 1.6 Galápagos Islands are located at west latitude (WL) = 89◦
16’ and south latitude (SA) = 1◦ 36’. This corresponds to nearly [01̄0].
Confirm this.

A two-dimensional (2D) map of the north semi-sphere projected along

the north arctic pole is the standard [001] projection, and shown in
Fig. 1.8. In the cubic system,
001,
110 and
111 have high symme-
try and because of their importance they are indicated by
, • and ,
respectively.

Reference
1. Hirth, J.P. and Lothe, J. Theory of Dislocations, 1st ed., McGraw-Hill, (1967);
2nd ed., Wiley, (1982).
August 14, 2017 13:7 Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations 9in x 6in b2636-ch01 page 8

8 Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations

−−
−

−
−− −
by 14.139.171.122 on 03/06/23. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.

−
−
Classical Theory of Crystal Dislocations Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

Fig. 1.8 Standard 001 projection. Unit stereographic triangle is hatched.

Further readings
1. Barrett, C.S. and Massalski, T.B. Structure of Metals, Crystallographic Prop-
erties, Principles, and Data, 3rd ed., Pergamon Press (1980).
2. Saka, H. Electron Microscopy of Crystals (in Japanese), Uchidarokakuho,
(1997).