UNIT-V

CRYSTAL PHYSICS
Solids

are

broadly

classified

into

two

categories

namely

crystalline and amorphous solids. Crystalline solids are further

classified into single crystal or an aggregate of many crystals called
polycrystalline.

Crystalline solids or crystals are those in which the atoms or

molecules are arranged in a regular fashion in 3-dimension. A crystal
has different periodic arrangements in all the three directions. So the
physical properties of the crystal vary with direction and therefore they
are called anisotropic substances.

Amorphous substances do not possess any regular shape or

structure. They also have no directional properties and so they are
called isotropic substances.

5.2

Fundamental Definitions

Space lattice and lattice points

Regular and periodic arrangement of 3-dimensional patterns of

atoms or molecules in space is called crystal structure.

Within crystal structure, the positions of atoms or molecules are

located by points known as Lattice points.

An infinite array of lattice points in three dimensions such that

every point has identical surroundings or environmental conditions as
that of the other point can be called as space lattice.

Basis and crystal structure

When every lattice point is replaced by an atom or a group of
atoms, then we get a regular periodic arrangement of atoms.

A crystal structure is formed by associating identically a building

unit with each and every lattice points. This building unit is called as
Basis. Thus a basis consists of an atom or groups of atoms.
Hence,
Lattice point + Basis = Crystal structure
Unit Cell
The atoms in a crystal are arranged in a periodic array. It is
possible to isolate a group of atoms or molecules or ions which
represents all the characteristics of the crystal.
Unit cell is the smallest geometric figure or a minimum volume
cell which contains minimum number of atoms of crystailine solid
which when repeated in three dimensional directions produces the
entire crystal.
Primitive Cell
The unit cell formed by the primitives a, b, and c is called
primitive cell. A primitive cell will have only one lattice point.
All the primitives are unit cells but it is not necessary that the
unit cell should be a primitive cell.

5.3

Lattice Parameter
Fig. 5.2

shows a unit cell in 3-dimension. An unit cell in 3-

dimension is known as parallelopipped. The lines drawn parallel to the

lines of intersection of any three faces of the unit cell which do not lie in
the same plane are called crystallographic axes. The translational
vectors a, b and c lie along the crystallographic axes. The intercepts a,
band c gives the dimension of an unit cell and are known as primitives
or lattice constants.

Let a be the angle between b and c, the angle between c and a,

and the angle between a and b, These angles a, and are known as
interfacial angles.
The lattice constants a, band c and interfacial angles a, and
together are called lattice parameters of the crystal.

5.4

Bravais Lattice
Bravais showed that there are only fourteen possible different

ways of arranging identical points in a 3-dimentional space so that in

all ways they have identical surroundings. When an atom is placed at
each lattice point, the lattice is called a Bravais lattice. They belong to
seven crystal systems.
Thus, Bravais lattice are nothing but the fourteen different ways

of rearrangement of lattice points of all the seven crystal systems.

Table 5.1: Seven Crystal Systems
Crystal System

(Unit vector)

Angles

Cubic

a =b = c

= = = 90

Tetragonal

a =b c

= = = 90

Orthorhombic

a b c

= = = 90

Monoclinic

a b c

= = 90

Triclinic

a b c

90

Trigonal or Rhombohedral

a =b = c

= = 90

Hexagonal

a =b c

= = 90 = 120

Table 5.2 Seven crystal systems with Bravais lattices

S.No

Crystal System

Bravais lattice

Primitives &

Examples

Interfacial angles
1.

Cubic

Simple cubic (SC)

a =b =c

Body centered
cubic (BCC)

NaCl, CaF2,
Fe, Au, Cu

= = = 90

Face-centered
cubic (FCC)
2.

Tetragonal

Simple cubic (SC)

a =b c

Body-centered
3.

Orthorhombic

NiSO4

cubic (BCC)

= = = 90

Simple cubic (SC)

a b c

Body centered
cubic (BCC)
Face-centered
cubic (FCC)
Base centered cubic

TiO2, SnO2,

BaSO4,
MgSO4,

= = = 90

KNO3

4.

Monoclinic

Simple cubic (SC)

a b c

Face-centered
cubic (FCC)

CaSO42
H2O,

= = 90

FeSO4,
Na2SO4

5.
6.

Triclinic
Trigonal

Simple cubic (SC)

Simple cubic (SC)

(Rhombohedral)
7.

Hexagonal

a b c

CuSO4,

90

K2Cr2O7

a =b = c

Bi, Sb, As

= = 90
Simple cubic (SC)

a =b c

Quartz, Zn,

= = 90

Mg, SiO2

= 120
5.5

Miller indices and lattice planes

A crystal consists of atoms, ions or molecules. Any face of a crystal

consists of layer of atoms or ions or molecules. The aggregate of a set of

parallel equidistant planes passing through at least one lattice point or a
number of lattice points are called lattice planes. The lattice plane can be
choosen in many ways for a given crystal as in Fig. 5.4.
It is very important to designate the lattice planes. Miller
developed a method to designate the planes and is known as Miller
indices. These indices are based on the intercepts of a plane with the
three crystal axes i.e., the three edges of the unit cell.
Miller indices are the three smallest possible integers, which
have the same ratio as the reciprocals of intercepts of the plane

concerned on the three axes.

Thus Miller indices describe the angular position of planes with
respect to the crystallographic axes but not their actual distances from
the origin.
The miller indices for a particular crystal plane can be
determined as follows
1. Determine the intercepts of the plane or face in terms of whole
numbers which are multiples or submultiples of the intercepts a,
b and c.
2. Take reciprocals of these numbers.
3. Reduce the reciprocals to their smallest possible values by
multiplying throughout by the least possible common factor.
4. Enclose these three integral numbers in brackets without
commas in between.

Let us consider a plane with intercepts 2,3,4 along the 3 axes as

an example.

The reciprocals are Reducing to the possible

smallest value by multiplying with the least commont multiple (12) we

get 6,4,3. So the Miller indices are (643). The miller indices for the
prominent crystal planes are shown in Fig. 5.6. In general the Miller
indices are indicated as (h k l), This means that a set of parallel planes
(h k l), cuts the x-axis into h parts, y-axis into k parts and z-axis into l
parts.

Characteristics of Miller indices

The characteristic features of the Miller indices are as follows
1.

All equally spaced parallel planes have the same Miller indices.

2.

A plane parallel to one of the co-ordinate axes has an intercept of

infinity and the Miller indices of that plane is zero.

3.

If the Miller indices of two planes have the same ratio (like 422 or
211), then the planes are parallel to each other.

4.

If a normal is drawn to a plane (h k l), the direction of the normal

is

5.

(h k l)

The indices should be enclosed within the paranthesis without the

commas in between the number.

6.

If the plane cuts the negative side of the axes, the intercept is a
negative number and the miller indices is negative.

7.

The negative miller indices is denoted by (h k l).

5.6

Inter-Planar distance in a cubic crystal

The distance d between successive members of a series of parallel

planes is known as interplanar distance.

Let us consider the plane ABC as shown in Fig. 5.6 Let (h k l) be
the Miller indices of plane. Let ON = d be the normal from the orgin to
the plane. ON makes an angle a, and

with the x, y and z axes

respectively.

The intercepts on the x, y, z axes are given by

The direction cosines of the normal are
By the property of direction cosines we have
Let ABC be another plane parallel to ABC at a distance OM from the
origin. Its intercepts are
The distance between two adjacent planes
i.e., Interplanar spacing

5.7

Relation between lattice constant and density

Let us consider a cubical crystal of lattice constant a. Let n be the

number of atoms per unit cell and the density of the material. If N is
the Avagadro's number and A the atomic weight of the material then,
A
Mass of each molecule = N/ A
Mass of 'n' molecules = n N/ A
Mass of unit cell
=
Volume of unit cell
5.8

Characteristics of Crystal Structures

It is always essential to know how atoms occupy the unit cells.

The fundamental parameters which determine the characteristics of

crystal structures are described below.
1.

Number of atoms/unit cell

The total number of atoms present in an unit cell is known as

number of atoms/unit cell or effective number.

2.

Nearest neighbour distance

The distance between the centres of two nearest neighbouring

atoms is called nearest neighbour distance. If r is the radius of the atom

then the nearest neighbour distance is 2r.
3.

Atomic radius
Atomic radius is defined as half the distance between the nearest

neighbouring atoms in a crystal.

4.

Co-ordination number
Co-ordination number is defined as the number of equidistant

nearest neighbours that an atom has in a given structure.

5.

Atomic packing factor or packing density.

The ratio of volume occupied by atoms in an unit cell to the total

volume of the unit cell is called atomic packing factor. This is also called
as packing fraction or packing factor.
Packing factor = v/ V
Where v is the volume of atoms in unit cell

V is the total volume of the unit cell.

5.9

Simple Cubic (SC) structure

A crystal structure is said to be simple when the atoms are

present only at the corners of the unit cell as in Fig. 5.7

No. of atoms per unit cell

A unit cell is not an isolated entity. The adjacent cells share each
lattice point. In simple cubic structure each corner atom is shared by 8
adjacent unit cells. Only 1/8 th part of an atom is contributed to each
lattice point.
Number of atoms in the unit cell = 1/8 x 8 = latom

Co-Ordination number
Co-ordination number of an atom in a crystal is the number of
nearest neighbouring atom. Let us consider one corner atom. This atom
is surrounded by 4 equally spaced neighbouring atoms in the same
plane, one vertically above and one exactly below this atom.
The co-ordination number = 4 + 1 + 1 + = 6

Atomic radius
Let us consider the atoms are sphere. The unit cell has atoms only
at the corner of the cube. Each corner atom touch each other along the
edges of the cube. If r is the atomic radius and a the side of the cube,
then from Fig 5.8 b we can write
2r = a

r = a/2

Atomic packing factor

Atomic packing factor is the ratio of volume of atoms in the unit

cell to the total volume of unit cell.

APF = Volume of all atoms in unit cell
Volume of unit cell
Number of atoms present in unit cell x Volume of one atom
Volume of unit cell
Number of atoms in unit cell = 1
volume of one atom =
volume of unit cell = a3
Where r is radius of each
atom
a is side of the cube
Atomic packing factor = /6 = 0.5236 = 52%
52% of the space in the unit cell is occupied by atoms. Thus this
structure is a loosely packed one.
5.10 Body centered Cubic (BCC) structure
The body centered cubic structure has one atom at the centre of
the cube apart from the eight corner atoms as shown in Fig. 5.9
Number of atoms per unit cell
In this crystal structure each corner atom is shared by 8
adjoining unit cells. Hence 1/8 th part of an atom is present in every

corner of the cube.

The share of each corner atom in a unit cell = 1/8 x 8 = 1 atom.
The body centered atom which is at the centre of the unit cell is
not shared by any other unit cell. Hence the central atom fully
contributes to this unit cell.
.'. Total number of atoms in a unit cell = 1 + 1 = 2 atoms (one corner
atom and the other is the body centered atom).

Co-ordination number
Consider the body centered atom in this cube. This atom is
surrounded by the corner atoms and is situated at equidistant from all
the corner atoms. This atom almost touches all the corner atoms. So
the nearest neighbour for a body centered atom is the 8 corner atoms.
Hence the co-ordination number = 8

Atomic radius
The unit cell has 8 atoms at the corners of the cube and 1 atom at the
centre of the cube. Here the corner atoms do not touch each other, but each
corner atom touches the central atom. Two atoms are in a straight line
along the diagonal inside body and the centre atom is along the body
diagonal. So in calculating the distance between the atoms, the central
atom should be taken into consideration. If 'r' is the atomic radius and 'a' is
the side of the cube then from the Fig. 5.10

In ABC,

AC2 =AB2 + BC2 = a2 + a2

AC2=2a2

In ADC,

AD2 =AC2 + CD2 = 2a2 + a2

AD2=3a2
AD= 3a

APF = Volume of all atoms in the unit cell (v)

Volume of unit cell (V)
APF = Number of atoms present in a unit cell x Volume of one atom
Volume of unit cell (V)
Number of atoms present in unit cell = 2
Volume of one atom

Where r is the radius is the of the atom.

Volume of unit cell a3
Substituting the value of 'r' from equation (2) we get
Atomic packing factor =
Thus packing fraction is about 68%. Hence this structure is not a
closely packed one. This means that only 68% of the space of the unit
cell is occupied by atoms and the remaining 32% is unoccupied.
5.11 Face Centered Cubic (FCC) Structure
(Number of atoms per unit cell)

In FCC structure there are 8 atoms present in 8 corners of the

cube and one atom on each of the face centers of the cube as in Fig. 5.12.
In this crystal structure each corner atom is shared by 8 adjoining unit
cell. Hence 1/8th part of an atom is present in every corner of the cube.
Along with this each face centered atom is shared by 2 adjoining unit
cells.
The share of corner atom in a unit cell =

Number of face centered atoms = 6 atoms.

Share of face centered atom = 1/2 x 6 = 3 atoms.
Total number of atoms in a unit cell
Co-ordination number
In FCC structure the nearest neighbours of any corner atom are
the face centered atoms of the surrounding unit cells. Any corner atom
has four such atoms in its own plane, four in the plane above it and
four in the plane below it.
Hence the coordination number = 4 + 4 + 4 = 12.
Atomic radius
The unit cell has 8 atoms at the corner of the cube and one atom
at the face centre of the cube. Here the corner atoms do not touch each
other. But each corner atom touches every nearby face centered atom.
If 'r' is the atomic radis and 'a' is the side of unit cell then from the
Fig. 5.12

APF = Volume of all atoms in the unit cell (v)

Volume of unit cell (V)
APF = Number of atoms present in a unit cell x Volume of one atom
Volume of unit cell (V)
Number of atoms per unit cell = 4
Volume of one atom =
where r is the radius of the atom
Volume of unit cell = a3

Substituting the value of 'a' from equation (1) we get

Atomic packing factor =
Thus the packing fraction is about 74%. This means that 74% of the
unit cell is occupied with atoms, When compared with simple cubic and
body centered cubic, structures, face centered has highest packing factor.
5.12 Hexagonal closed packed (HCP) structure
Fig.5.13 represents a unit cell of HCP structure. In this
structure there are three layers of atoms in a unit cell. The bottom
layer has six corner atom and one face centered atom. Similarly the
top layer has six corner atom. There is a middle layer containing three
atoms at the centre of the body at a distance c/2 from the bottom layer.

Number of atoms per unit cell

Consider the bottom layer. It consists of six corner atoms and

one face centered atom. Each corner atom contributes 1/6 th of it in one
unit cell and face centered atom contributes 1/2 of its part in the unit
cell. Similarly in the upper layer there are 6 corner atoms and one
central atom whose contributions are the same as that of the bottom
layer.

Total number of corner atoms in the upper and bottom layer =12 1
Share of each corner atom = 12 x 1/ 6 = 2
Total number of central atoms = 2
Contribution of each central atom = 2 x = 1
In the middle layer there are 3 atoms which are not shared by any
unit cell. Hence the contribution is full.
Total number of atoms m one unit cell = 12 x 1/6 + 2 x 2 x 1/2 + 3 = 6
atoms.

Co-Ordination number
Consider the face centered atom in the bottom layer. It is
surrounded by she corner atoms. Above the face centered atom there is
a layer containing 3 atoms. Similarly below the face centered atom

there is a layer containing 3 atoms. So the number of atoms

surrounding a particular atom is 6 + 3 + 3 = 12.
Hence the coordination number = 12.
This is true if the co-ordination number is calculated considering
any other atom in the structure.
Atomic radius
In this structure the atoms touch each other along the edges of
hexagon and the face centered atom touches all the corner atoms. If 'r'
is the radius of atom and 'a' is the side of the hexagon then we can
write

Atomic Packing factor

For calculating packing factor first we have to calculate the (C/a)

ratio, where c is the height of the unit cell and a is the constant or the
edge of the unit cell.

Calculation of (c/a) ratio

Let c be the height of the unit cell and a be the distance

between two neighbouring atoms. Consider the ABO in the bottom
layer. Here

A, B, O represents the atoms in the bottom layer, at a

distance c/2 the next layer of atoms lies at C.

From Fig 5.15 (b)

In ABA1

5.13 Other important Structure

5.13.1 Diamond cubic structure
Diamond cubic structure is exhibited by germanium, silicon and
carbon crystals. This structure is a combination of two interpenetrating
FCC sub-latticles as shown in Fig. 5.16 One sub-lattice X has its origin
at (000) and the other sub-lattice Y has its origin at a point one quarter
apart along the body diagonal ie., at

Number of atoms per unit cell

The unit cell consists of eight corner atoms, six face centered
atoms and four atoms located inside the unit cell. The eight corner
atoms are shared by eight adjacent unit cells and six face centered
atoms are shared by two unit cells .
total number of atoms in a unit cell = 1/8 x 8 + 1/2 x 6 + 4 = 8
Co-ordination number
Consider an atom along the body diagonal. This is tetragonaly
bonded with four atoms. These atoms are the nearest neighbours and
so the co-ordination number is 4.

Atomic radius
Consider a corner atom and an atom along the body diagonal.
The diagonal atoms lies at a distance one fourth of the body diagonal
length.
From Fig 5.16 (c)

From equation (1) and (2)

Atomic packing factor

APF =

Volume of all atoms in the unit cell (v)

Volume of unit cell (V)

No. of atoms present in unit cell = 8

Volume of one atom =

Volume of unit cell = a3

Atomic packing factor

Thus packing fraction is about 34%. So this is a loosely packed structure.
5.13.2 Zinc Blende or Sphalerite Cubic Structure

This structure is similar to diamond cubic structure with the

exception that the two sublattices are occupied by two different
elements. This structure is possessed by semiconductors like InSb,
GaAs, CuCl and ZnS.

Fig. 5.1 shows the zinc sulphide (ZnS) structure which is the
result of Zn atoms on one FC lattice and S atoms on other FCC lattice

5.13.3 Sodium Chloride Structure

Sodium chloride crystal is an ionic crystal. The sodium ions and
chlorine ions are situated side by side in the sodium chloride lattice.
This structure consists of two FCC sublattices. One sublattice has its
origin at (0, 0 ,0) with chlorine ions and the other sublattice has its
origin midway along a cube edge at with sodium ions as in
Fig. 5.18 .
Each ion in the sodium chloride lattice has six nearest neighbour
ions at a distance a/2 leading to co-ordination number as 6. Each unit

cell in sodium chloride structure has four sodium ions and four
chlorine ions. Hence each unit cell has four NaCI molecules.

5.13.4 Graphite Structure

The graphite structure is shown in Fig. 5.19. Here the carbon
atoms are arranged in layer or sheet structure. Carbon atom, ca form
four covalent bonds with other carbon atoms. Graphite is formed when
only three covalent bonds are formed with the other carbon atoms. The
fourth electron which is left forms metallic bond which holds the sheets
together. The spacing between the sheets is about 3.4 and spacing
between the carbon atoms in each layer is 1.42 . The sheets are held
together in a crystal by van der waals bonds.
5.14 Polymorphism and Allotropy
In a solid if the change in temperature or pressure is not
accompanied by melting or vaporization, the internal arrangement of
atoms of the solid changes.
The ability of a material to have more than one structure is
called polymorphism. If the change in structure is reversible, then
the polymorphic change is known as allotropy. This means that an
element can have more than one structure and in all structures the
physical properties change whereas the chemical properties remains
unaltered.

Cobalt at ordinary temperature has HCP structure and when

heated above 477 C, its structure changes to FCC. Similarly iron at
room temperature has BCC structure and is known as a-Iron. When
heated above 910 C its structure changes to FCC and is called as,
iron. On further heating to above 1400 C, it changes to BCC structure
and is known as 6-Iron. At 1539 C it melts. All these changes are
reversible on cooling.

Carbon also exists in allotropic forms. Diamond and graphite are

the two allotropic forms. Diamond structure is a combination of two
interpenetrating FCC sublattices. The atoms are united by covalent
bonds and so it acts as a good electrical insulator. Also it is a very hard
material. In the graphite structure carbon atoms of each hexagonal
layer are united by covalent bonds by loosing one valence electron. The
layers are easily separable as there is no strong bonding between the
layers. This makes graphite to act as a good electrical conductor.

5.15 Crystal defects

A perfect crystal is considered to be constructed by the infinite
regular repetition of identical structural units or building blocks. In
actual crystals imperfects or defects are always present. The effects of
defects are important in knowing the properties of crystals. Properties
such as mechanical strength, ductility, dielectric strength, conduction,
magnetic hysteresis etc., are greatly affected by the defects.

The structural imperfections can be classified based on their

geometry as follows

Point defects
Line defects
Surface defects
Volume defects

5.15.1 Point defects

Point defects are lattice errors occurring at isolated lattice
points. They are point-like regions in the crystals and so referred as
zero-dimensional defects. The most common point defects are

Vacancy

Interstitial

Substitutional impurities

Interstitial impurities

Schottky defect

Frenkel defects

Electronic defects

The first four types of defects occur in elemental crystals,

whereas the last two defects occur in ionic crystals.

Vacancy
Vacancy refers to the missing of an atom from its site as in Fig.

5.20 (a). This defect may rise either from imperfect crystal packing or
from thermal vibrations of atoms at high temperatures. To create a
vacancy the thermal energy required is of the order of 1 eV per
vacancy.

Interstitial
In a close-packed arrangement of atoms if the atomic packing
factor is low, an extra atom may be lodged within the crystal structure
as in Fig. 5.20 (b). This is known as interstitials. This may also be
created by thermal agitations.

Substitutional Impurities

A substitutional impurity is created when a foreign atom

substitutes for or replaces a parent atom in the lattice Fig. 5.20 (c). In
brass, zinc is a substitutional atom in the copper lattice.

Interstitial Impurities
A foreign atom or ion occupying the void between regularly
occupied sites in crystals creates interstitial impurities (Fig. 5. 20(d)).
The foreign atom gets well fitted if its size is relatively small compared
to the parent atom.

Schottky defect
In an ionic crystal, if there is a vacancy in a positive-ion site and
charge neutrality is achieved by creating a vacancy in a neighbouring
negative-ion stie, such a pair of vacant sites is called schottky defect (Fig.
5.20 (e)).

Frenkel defect
In ionic crystals, an ion displaced form the lattice into an interstitial
site is called a frenkel defect. As captions are generally smaller ions, it is
possible for them to get displaced into the void space present in the lattice.
A frenkel imperfection does not change the overall electrical neutrality of
the crystal.
Electronic defects
Electronic

defects

are

nothing

but

the

errors

in

charge

distribution in solids. These defects are produced when the composition

of an ionic crystal does not correspond to the exact stoichiometric
formula.
5.15.2 Line defects
In a crystal, if a plane of atoms just partway, the defect formed by
the edge of such a plane is in the form line and is called line defect. This
is also known as a dislocation. In geometrical sense, these defects are

one-dimensional defects. Line defects are formed in the process of

crystallization. The two types as dislocation are

1.

Edge dislocation and

2.

Screw dislocation

Edge dislocation
The atoms are expected to be arranged in a regular fashion in an
ideal crystal. However if any of this regular arrangement is not
extended to the full length of the crystal and ends in between within the
crystal as in Fig. 5.22, then it is known as edge dislocation. The
discontinuity of the atom leads to a distortion of the crystal shape
around the edge.

Edge dislocation is said to be positive when the incomplete plane

starts from the top of the crystal and is denoted as T. The edge
dislocation is said to be negative when the incomplete plane starts from
bottom of the crystal and is denoted as T.
The magnitude and direction of the displacement are determined
by a vector called the Burgers vector which is perpendicular to the
dislocation line. To draw the Burger circuit, start from p move right
through x atomic steps move down through y atomic steps, move left by
X atomic steps and then move up through the same point P. This closed
path around the dislocation line is called Burger circuit.

In a perfect crystal we come to the same point P when the above

operations are done. However in imperfect crystal, when the above
operations are done, we end up at Q and not at P as in Fig 5.23. The
distance QP(b) represents the magnitude and direction of the Buger
vector. The Burger vector and dislocation are perpendicular to each
other.

Screw dislocation
When the dislocation tends the atom to get displaced in two
separate planes perpendicular to each other, it is called as screw
dislocation. In this case the lattice planes of the crystal spiral the
dislocation line and so are called screw dislocation (Fig 5.23).
In screw sislocation the burger vector and the dislocation are
parallel to each other. The force required to initiate screw dislocation is
greater than that is required to initiate edge dislocation.
5.15.3 Surface defects
In a crystal, the defects that take place on the surface of the
material are known as surface defects or plane defects. In geometrical
sense, these imperfections are two dimensional and their thickness is of
few atomic diameters. Surface defects are classified as
1. Grain boundary

2. Twin boundary and

3. Stacking fault

Grain Boundary

These are defects which separate crystals of different orientations

in a polycrystalline aggregate. During recrytallization of polycrystalline
crystals, the new crystals get randomly oriented with respect to each
other. As the crystals grow they impinge on the adjacent regions. The
atoms held in between these crystals are pulled by each crystal in its
own direction. Thus depending on the force the atoms occupy their
equilibrium position. The boundary region between the two crystals is
distorted and this region is called grain boundary.

When the misorientation between the crystals is of order 10, they

are called low angle boundaries. If the misorientation is greater than
10 we call it high angle boundries.
Twin boundary
If the atomic arrangements on one side of the boundary is the
mirror reflection of arrangements on the other side of the boundary,
then such a boundary is known as twin boundary as in Fig. 5.25 The
region between pair of boundries is called twinned region.

Stacking faults
These are imperfection arised due to the dissimilarity in the
stacking sequences of atomic planes in crystals. This occur in the closed
pack FCC and HCP structures. For example for an ideal stacking like
ABCABCABC we get
ABCA

BCBC

ABC

Plane A is missing giving rise to stacking faults.

5.15.4 Volume defects

During the crystal growth process, the presence of a void or
vacancy due to the missing cluster of atoms is referred as volume
defects. The volume defects such as cracks may arise when there is
electrostatic dissimilarity between the stacking sequence of closed
packed planes in metals.