W2 (15 - 21/10/23)

MATERIALS SCIENCE
BDA 10803
 CHAPTER 2

2.1 Atomic structure and atomic bonding

2.2 Crystal and Bravais lattice system
2.3 Crystal structure of metal
2.4 Crystallographic planes and directions
2.5 Crystal structure analysis

2
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC PLANES AND
DIRECTIONS
§ Why?
üDeformation under loading (slip) occurs on certain crystalline
planes and in certain crystallographic directions. Thus, before we
can predict how materials fail, we need to know
v What modes of failure are more likely to occur.
üOther properties of materials (electrical conductivity, thermal
conductivity, elastic modulus) can vary in a crystal with orientation.

§ Example : ferum (Fe) – magnetic effect is strong in [100] direction

compare to [111] direction.

§ Miller indices – used to explain the planes and directions position in

crystal.
 ï Atomic position in cubic unit cell

Atomic position in BCC unit cell ð

§ A line or vector between 2(two) points.

§ Steps in determination of the three directional indices :

1. A vector of convenient length is positioned such that it passes through the
origin of the coordinate system. Any vector may be translated throughout the
crystal lattice without alteration, if parallelism is maintained.
2. Determine length of the vector projection on each of the three axes; they are
measured in terms of the unit cell dimensions a, b and c.
3. The three numbers are multiplied or divided by a common factor to reduce
them to the smallest integer values.
4. The three direction indices are enclosed by square brackets with no separating
commas, thus : [ ].
→ +ve [uvw]
é- - - ù
→ -Ve êu v wú
ë û
Ä All parallel direction vectors have the same
direction indices.

Ä Crystallographically equivalent directions – the

atom spacing along each direction is the same.

< 100 >® [100 ], [010 ], [001], [100], [010], [001]

other directions of a family <110> and <111>

- INDICES OF A FAMILY
 Z

x y z
position 1 1 1
0 Y Direction: [ 1 1 1]

x y z 0
position 1 0 -1/2
×2 2 0 -1
1
Direction: [ 2 0 1] 2
 [203]
Z

0 Y

2
X 3
Z

[ 201]

1 0 Y

X
PROBLEMS
Determine the direction indices of the cubic direction shown in
figure below.
z
Solution :

(a)

(b) 1
(c) 2
(d) y
1
3 1
1 2
x 2
ØThe reciprocals of the fractional intercepts (with fractions cleared)
which the plane makes with the crystallographic x, y and z axes of
the three nonparallel edges of the cubic unit cell.

ØMethod
§ If the plane passes through the origin, select an equivalent plane
or move the origin
§ Determine the intersection of the plane with the axes in terms of
a, b, and c
§ Take the reciprocal (1/∞ = 0)
§ Convert to smallest integers (optional)
§ Enclose by parentheses = ( and )
ð PLANES OF A FAMILY – sets of equivalent lattice planes are related by the
symmetry of the crystal system.

{100} ® (100), (010), (001)

¬An important relationships for the cubic system (only)
¬→ the direction indices of a direction perpendicular to a crystal plane are the
same as the miller indices of that plane.

Example : the [100] direction is perpendicular to the (100) crystal plane.

¬All parallel planes have the same miller indices

¬Miller indices of 2 planes that have the same ratio (ex. (844) and (422) are parallel to
each other
 Z

(1 0 1) Note :

= (___)

= (0__)
Y

= (_0_)
= (__0)
X
z

(`1`1`1)

x
PROBLEMS
Draw the following crystallograhic planes in cubic unit cells :

( a )(101)
(b)(110)
(c )(221)
( d )(234)
§ Why do we care?
§ Properties, in general, depend on linear and planar density.
§ Examples:
§ Speed of sound along directions
§ Slip (deformation in metals) depends on linear and planar
density
§ Slip occurs on planes that have the greatest density of atoms
in direction with highest density
(we would say along closest packed directions on the closest
packed planes)
 Number of atoms centered on a plane
rP =
Area of plane

• The units of planar density = m-2 , nm-2

Example Problem
Calculate the planar atomic density rp on the (110) plane of
the a iron BCC lattice in atoms per square millimeter. The
lattice constant, a of a iron is 0.287 nm.
Figure : (a) A BCC atomic-site unit cell showing a shaded (110) plane
(b) Areas of atoms in BCC unit cell cut by the (110) plane.
§ Equivalent number of atoms intersected by the (110) plane ;
1 atom at the center + (4 x ¼ atoms at four corners of plane) =
2 atoms

Area of the plane (110) ;

(√2 a)(a) = √2 a2

The planar atomic density is

2 atoms
rP = 2
2 (0.287 nm)
2 13 2
r P = 17.2atoms/nm = 17.2x10 atoms/mm
 Number of atoms centered on direction vector
r =
l
Length of direction vector

• The units of linear density = m-1 , nm-1

Example Problem
Calculate the linear atomic density rl in the [110] direction in the
copper crystal lattice in atoms per millimeter. Copper is FCC and
has a lattice constant of 0.361 nm.
The number of atomic diameters intersected by this length of
line are
½ + 1 + ½ = 2 atoms.

Length of the direction vector = √2 a

The linear atomic density is:

2 atoms
rl =
2 (0.361 nm)
6
r l = 3.92 atoms/nm = 3.92 x 10 atoms/mm
 d hk
ÄSpacing between planes → distance between 2 parallel planes
having similar miller indices, given by (hkl is miller indices for
plane).

ÄThe analysis is done by using the x-ray diffractometer machine.

ÄEach materials have their own combination of diffraction like

finger print.
Example of diffraction pattern for a-iron
 Crystal structure

Lattice
parameter
Atoms can be arranged and imaged!!!

Carbon monoxide Iron atoms arranged

molecules arranged on a copper (111)
on a platinum (111) surface. These Kanji
surface. characters represent
the word “atom”.

SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPY

¶ Atoms may assemble into crystalline or amorphous
structures.

¶ We can predict the density of a material, provided we know

the atomic weight, atomic radius, and crystal structure
(e.g., FCC, BCC, HCP).

¶ Material properties generally vary with single crystal

orientation (i.e., they are anisotropic), but properties are
generally non-directional (i.e., they are isotropic) in
polycrystals with randomly oriented grains.