Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 November 2009
The crystal lattice
An ideal crystal contains atoms arranged in a repetitive three-dimensional pattern. If each repeat unit of this pattern, which may be an atom or group of atoms, is taken as a point then a three-dimensional point lattice is created. A space lattice, such as that shown in figure C.1, is obtained when lines are drawn connecting the points of the point lattice. The space lattice is composed of box-like units, the dimensions of which are fixed by the distances between the points in the three noncoplanar directions x, y and z. These are known as unit cells and the crystal structure has a periodicity (based on the contents of these cells) represented by the translation of the original unit of pattern along the three directions x, y and z. These directions are called the crystallographic axes. Any directions may, in principle, be chosen as the crystallographic axes. However, it is useful to select a set of axes which bears a close resemblance to the symmetry of the crystal. This can result in x, y and z directions that are not at right angles to one another. In figure C.1, the angle between the y and z axes is designated α, between the z and x axes, β, and between the x and y axes, γ.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.