Basics of Crystal Structure in Real and Reciprocal Space

Before we proceed to the electronic theory of solids it is absolutely important for us to understand the
basics of materials building block so called crystal structure. More than a often the bulk properties of the
materials determine by their underline microstructures. The science which deals with study of geometric
forms and physical properties of crystalline solids is called crystallography. The study of crystallography is
necessary to understand strong co-relation between the structure of material and it’s physical properties.This
section would deal with some fundamental basics of crystallography which would be useful later on.

1 Lattice
Before defining arrangement of atoms in crystal it is convenient to define arrangement of imaginary points in
space which have a definite relation with arrangement of atoms. Such an arrangement of imaginary points
in 3-dimensional space with each space having identical surroundings is called a point lattice or space lattice.
A more formal defination of a lattice is-
A lattice is an infinite set of points defined by integer sum of set of linearly independent vectors
So in 2-dimensional space lattice can be defined by -
Rrn1n2s “ n1 a1 ` n2 a2 where n1 , n2 P Z
where a1 and a2 are primitive lattice vectors and n1 and n2 are integers

Fig (1.1) A lattice is defined as integer sums of of primitive lattice vectors.

Similarly in a 3 dimensional space lattice can be defined as

Rrn1n2n3s “ n1 a1 ` n2 a2 ` n3 a3 where n1 , n2 , n3 P Z
The choice of primitive lattice vectors(a1 ,a2 and a3 is not unique. That means there exist multiple combi-
nations of primitive lattice vector such that they can define the whole lattice space through above relation.
The other equivalent defination of lattice is that-
A lattice is a set of points where the environment of any given point is equivalent to the
environment of any other given point.
Any periodic structure can be expressed as lattice of repeating motifs. However the honeycomb structure is
not a lattice as shown below-

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Fig (1.2) The honeycomb is not a lattice. Points P and R are inequivalent (points P and Q are equivalent).

Honeycomb structure violates the definition of lattice that each point has equivalent surroundings.The re-
peating element or the object in a lattice which forms the building block is called a motif.Together both
motif and the lattice form the periodic structure

Crystal Structure=LatticeˆMotif

2 Unit Cell
The parallelograms formed by lattice vectors in Figure (1.1) may be regarded as the building blocks for
constructing the whole lattice and are known as unit cells.For 3-dimensional crystal the parallelograms are
of the form of parallelopiped.
A formal definition of unit cell is-
A unit cell is a region of space such that when many identical units are stacked together it
tiles (completely fills) all of space and reconstructs the full structure.
Since both primitive and non-primitve lattice vectors can be used for creating unit cells accordingly we have
2 types of unit cells that is-primitive unit cell and non primitive unit cell.
We define primitive unit cell as -
A primitive unit cell for a periodic crystal is a unit cell containing exactly one lattice point
Sometimes it is useful to define a unit cell which is not primitive in order to make it simpler to work with.
This is known as a conventional unit cell. Almost always these conventional unit cells are chosen so as
to have orthogonal axes lattice point.

2.1 Wigner Seitz Cell

The definition of a Wigner-Seitz unit cell is given by-
Given a lattice point, the set of all points in space which are closer to that given lattice point
than to any other lattice point constitute the Wigner–Seitz cell of the given lattice point.
A Wigner-Seitz Cell can be construced by
1. Connect a given lattice point to all nearby lattice points
2. Draw a normal at mid points of lines connecting the lattice points

The smallest volume enclosed by the normal is required Wigner-Seitz cell

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 Fig(1.3) Contruction of Wigner-Seitz cell

Since this unit cell also contains one lattice point it is a primitive unit cell.

2.2 Conventional Unit Cell

Ideally the primitive cell having the smallest volume should be chosen as conventional unit cell but sometimes
a non primitive cell can be chosen as conventional unit cell due to higher symmetry.

Fig(1.4) Some unit cells for triangular lattice.

In above example we see 3 types of unit cell - primitive, non primitive(Conventional) and Wigner Seitz. We
see here that both primitive and Wigner-Seitz contain one lattice point per unit cell wheras the conventional
contains two lattice points per unit cell- This is because when a lattice point is at the boundary of unit cell
it should only be counted fractionally.
1
No. of lattice points/conventional unit cell = 1 ` 4 ˆ 4 “2

3 Basis
The space lattice had been defined as arrangement of imaginary points in space arranged in such a manner
that each point has identical surroundings.The crystal structure is always defined in terms of lattice and not
points. Thus to obtain a crystal structure an atom or group of atoms must be placed instead of points in
the lattice.Such a group of atoms is called the basis and acts as building/structural blocks.
The formal definition of a lattice is given by -
The description of objects in the unit cell with respect to the reference lattice point in the
unit cell is known as a basis

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 Space Lattice + Basis ÝÑ Crystal Structure
Thus a large number of crystals may be obtained from combination of 14 different lattices(discussed later)
and different types of basis available to us.

3.1 Example of a Basis

The basis of the above crystal is given by

Large Light Gray Atom Position=[a/2,a/2]

Small Dark Gray Atom Position1=[a/4,a/4]

Small Dark Gray Atom Position2=[3a/4,3a/4]

Small Dark Gray Atom Position3= [a/4,3a/4]

Small Dark Gray Atom Position4= [3a/4,a/4]

Combining the above basis and the lattice defination we can define position of any atom inside the crystal.
The positions of Large Light gray atoms is given by

Rlight´gray
rn1n2s ran1 , an2 s ` loooomoooon
“ loooomoooon ra{2, a{2s
Lattice Basis

Similarly for small dark gray atoms-

Rdark´gray1
rn1n2s ran1 , an2 s ` loooomoooon
“ loooomoooon ra{4, a{4s
Lattice Basis

Rdark´gray2
rn1n2s ran1 , an2 s ` looooomooooon
“ loooomoooon r3a{4, 3a{4s
Lattice Basis

Rdark´gray3
rn1n2s ran1 , an2 s ` looooomooooon
“ loooomoooon ra{4, 3a{4s
Lattice Basis

Rdark´gray4
rn1n2s ran1 , an2 s ` looooomooooon
“ loooomoooon r3a{4, a{4s
Lattice Basis

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4 Three Dimensional Lattice
4.1 Crytsal System
There are various different lattices in 3 dimensions, simplest being the cubic one and others can be tetrag-
onal and orthorhombic.There are in total 7 crystal systems in 3 dimensional space

All sides equal

a“b“c
Cubic
All angles 90
α “ β “ γ “ 90

Only 2 sides equal

a“b‰c
Tetragonal
All angles 90
α “ β “ γ “ 90

No side equal
a‰b‰c
Orthorhombic
All angles 90
α “ β “ γ “ 90

All sides equal

a“b“c
Rhombohedral
All angles equal but not 90
α “ β “ γ ‰ 90

Two sides equal

a“b‰c
Hexagonal
Angles are
α “ β “ 90, γ “ 120

No side equal
a‰b‰c
Monoclinic
Only 2 right angles
α “ γ “ 90, β ‰ 120

No side equal
a‰b‰c
Triclinic
Only right angles
α ‰ β ‰ γ ‰ 90

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The above table shows different lattice systems, these lattice systems coupled with choice of unit cells (face
centered, body centered, Simple , Side entered) gives us different 14 Bravias Lattices.
Conventionally to represent a vector in a lattice we write

ruvws “ ua1 ` va2 ` wa3

where
u, v, w ÝÑ Integers

a1 , a2 , a3 ÝÑ Basis vectors

Now we would look at few specific examples of lattices

4.2 Body Centered Cubic Lattice

We have already looked at the cubic crystal system before , now depending on the placement of atoms inside
the unit cell we can have further classifications one of them being body centered cubic Lattice

3-dimensional and 2 dimensional view of BCC Lattice, In Plan View a{2 represents the depth of center
atom

No. of atoms per unit cells can be given by

1
8 ˆ8`1“1
So here the conventional unit cell contains 2 atoms Looking at the location of atoms using lattice+basis
information we get we can represent positions of atoms in lattice as co-ordinates rx, y, zs where x, y and z
are integers puvwq times the lattice constant a. It is easier to look at the BCC lattice as a simple cubic
lattice with 2 points per unit cell. So we basically have 2 units of lattice constants [0,0,0](edge atoms(simple
cubic)] and [1/2,1/2,1/2](body centered atoms). Hence we get location of the atoms as
Rcorner “ rn1 , n2 , n3 s Simple Cubic lattice 1

Rcenter “ rn1 , n2 , n3 s ` r1{2, 1{2, 1{2s Simple Cubic Lattice 2

Both of them together give the location of lattice points in BCC lattice.
Simple Cubic Lattice 1 + Simple Cubic Lattice 2 ÝÑ BCC Lattice

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 From this perspective we can look at BCC lattice as 2 simple cubic lattices displaced by [1/2,1/2,1/2]

Another way we can define is through lattice vectors(a1 , a2 , a3 ). We can write primitive lattice vectors of
BCC Lattice as
a1 “ r1, 0, 0s
a2 “ r0, 1, 0s
1 1 1
a3 “ r , , s
2 2 2
Now any point can be represented by its combination

R “ n1 a1 ` n2 a2 ` n3 a3

Examining the point in the center of the unit cell, we see that it has precisely eight nearest neighbors in
each of the possible diagonal directions. Similarly, any of the points in the corners of the unit cells will have
eight nearest neighbors corresponding to the points in the center of the eight adjacent unit cells.
Z “ Coordination Number= 8
Remember the defination of Wigner-Seitz cell that we studied, As in two dimensions, a Wigner–Seitz cell
can be constructed around each lattice point which encloses all points in space that are closer to that lattice
point than to any other point in the lattice. Instead of perpendicular bisectors we would have bisecting
planes.

Wigner-Seitz cell of a BCC Lattice in shape of truncated octahedron

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4.3 Face-Centered Cubic Lattice
FCC lattice is like a simple cubic lattice but has aditional atoms(or lattice point) at center of every face of
the cube

3-dimensional and 2-dimensional view of fcc-lattice, Here (a/2) again refers to the depth of face-centered
atoms

No. of atoms per unit cell is given by

1 1
6ˆ `8ˆ “4
2 8
Now again we have to define location of lattice points in terms of co-ordinates (x,y,z) where x,y and z are
integers or half integers. As we did with the BCC Lattice, it is convenient to look at the FCC case as a
Simple Cubic Cell with basis of four atoms per conventional unit cells. In a Simple cubic cell the lattice
point location is [x,y,z] times the lattice constant a where again x,y,z are integers. So we define lattice points
of fcc lattice by -
Rcorner “ rn1 , n2 , n3 s
1 1
Rf ace´xy “ rn1 , n2 , n3 s ` r , , 0s
2 2
1 1
Rf ace´xz “ rn1 , n2 , n3 s ` r , 0, s
2 2
1 1
Rf ace´yz “ rn1 , n2 , n3 s ` r0, , s
2 2
Since the conventional unit cell has four lattice points in it, we can think of the fcc lattice as
being four interpenetrating simple cubic lattices.

SC1+SC2+SC3+SC4 ÝÑ FCC Lattice

Wigner Seitz Cell of FCC Lattice

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4.4 Packing Fraction
In crystallography, atomic packing factor (APF), packing efficiency, or packing fraction is the fraction of
volume in a crystal structure that is occupied by constituent particles.
V olumeof AtomsinU nitCell Natom Vatom
AP F “ “
V olumeof U nitCell Vcell
Let’s determine packing fraction of Simple cubic, BCC and FCC lattice

4.4.1 Simple Cubic

For a simple cubic packing, the number of atoms per unit cell is one. The side of the unit cell is of length
2r, where r is the radius of the atom
a “ 2r
Natom “ 1
4πr3
Vatom “
3
Natom Vatom 1. 43 πr 3
AP F “ Vcell “ p2r 3 q “ 0.52

Simple Cubic Unit Cell

4.4.2 Body Centered Cubic

Each corner atom touches the center atom. A line that is drawn from one corner of the cube through the
center and to the other corner passes through 4r, where r is the radius of an atom. By geometry, the length
of the diagonal is a3. Therefore, the length of each side of the BCC structure can be related to the radius
of the atom by ?
4r “ 3a
Natom “ 2
4πr3
Vatom “
3
Natom Vatom 2. 34 πr 3
AP F “ Vcell “ p ?4r q3
“ 0.68
3a

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 BCC unit cell

4.4.3 Face Centered Cubic

For a face-centered cubic unit cell, the number of atoms is four. A line can be drawn from the top corner of
a cube diagonally to the bottom corner on the same side of the cube, which is equal to 4r. Using geometry,
and the side length, a can be related to r as:
?
4r “ 2a

Natom “ 4
4πr3
Vatom “
3
Natom Vatom 4. 34 πr 3
AP F “ Vcell “ ?
p2r 2q3
“ 0.74

FCC unit cell

4.5 Bravias Lattice

We discussed 7 types of crystal system earlier in the section. Then we also discussed types of unit cells that
is simple, body centered , face centered and end centered. These 7 types of crystal systems along with 4
types of unit cells gives us corresponding 14 Bravias Lattices. These Bravias Lattices are shown below in
the table
7 crystal Classes + 4 Unit Cells ÝÑ 14 Bravias Lattices
Ideally there are 7ˆ4=28 combinations possible, but not all crystal system has all Bravias Lattices so out
of 28 in real world we observe only 14 lattices.

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 S. No. Crystal System Parameters Bravais Lattice Abbreviations Symbol Examples
1 Cubic a“b“c Simple sc P Cu, Ag, Fe,
α “ β “ γ “ 90˝ Body-centred bcc I Na, NaCl,
Face-centred fcc F CsCl
2 Tetragonal a“b‰c Simple st P β-Sn,
α “ β “ γ “ 90˝ Body-centred bct I TiO2
3 Orthorhombic a‰b‰c Simple so P Ga,
α “ β “ γ “ 90˝ Body-centred bco I Fe2 C
End-centred eco C (cementite)
Face-centred fco F
4 Rhombohedral a“b“c Simple - P As, Sb, Bi
or Trigonal α “ β “ γ ‰ 90˝ (or R)
5 Hexagonal a“b‰c Simple - P Mg, Zn, Cd,
α “ β “ 90˝ , NiAs
γ “ 120˝ -
6 Monoclinic a‰b‰c Simple - P CaSO4 . 2H2 O
α “ γ “ 90˝ ‰ β End-centred - C (gypsum)
7 Triclinic a‰b‰c Simple - P K2 Cr2 O7
α ‰ β ‰ γ ‰ 90˝

5 Reciprocal Lattice
Till now we have had our discussion about Bravias(also known as Real Lattice) now we would look at another
class known as the Reciprocal Lattice. In Real Space we talk about periodicity.A system which is periodic
in real space would also be periodic in k-space.
From this let us look at our first principle.
A system which is periodic in real space with a periodicity a will be periodic in reciprocal
space with periodicity 2π/a.
Again here the word reciprocal space means k-space. In other words this principle tells us that if a system
looks the same when x → x + a then in k-space the dispersion will look the same when k → k+ 2/a.
The periodic unit (the “unit cell”) in k-space is conventionally known as the Brillouin zone. The first Brilloun
zone is a unit cell in k-space centered around k=0.
It is worth pausing for a second and asking why we expect that the dispersion curve should be periodic in k
→ k + 2/a. We defined our vibration mode to be of the form

δxn “ Aeiωt´ikna

If we take k → k + 2/a we obtain

δxn “ Aeiωt´ipk`2π{aqna “ Aeiωt´ikna e´i2πn “ Aeiωt´ikna

What we have found here is that shifting k → k+2/a gives us back exactly the same oscillation mode the
we had before we shifted k. The two are physically exactly equivalent!
From this we get our first definition of reciprocal lattice
We can thus define a set of points in k-space (reciprocal space) which are all physically equiv-
alent to the point k = 0. This set of points is known as the reciprocal lattice.

5.1 Reciprocal Lattice in 1D

We have had studied earlier that if
Primitive lattice vector of Real Lattice ÝÑ a
then

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 Primitive lattice vector of Reciprocal Lattice ùñ 2π/a
We now want to find a relation between real lattice and reciprocal lattice, we can see the relation below as
Real-Space Lattice= Rn = ... -2a, -a ,0 , a , 2a ...
Reciprocal Lattice= Gn = ... ´2p 2π 2π 2π 2π
a q , ´p a q , 0 , p a q , 2p a q ...

From this we get the second definition of reciprocal lattice-

For a given direct lattice of points R, a point G is a point in the reciprocal lattice if and only
if
eiGm Rn “ 1 (1.1)
for all points Rn of real lattice

5.2 Construction of Reciprocal Lattice

To construct a reciprocal lattice we first write a real space lattice
R “ n1 a1 ` n2 a2 ` n3 a3
where
n1 , n2 , n3 are Integers
a1 , a2 , a3 are Primitive lattice vectors of Direct lattice
We now make two key claims
1. We claim that the reciprocal lattice (defined earlier) is a lattice in reciprocal space (thus explaining its
name).
2. We claim that the primitive lattice vectors of the reciprocal lattice (which we will call b1, b2, and b3)
are defined to have the following property

ai ¨ bj “ 2πδij

ai ÝÑ PLV of Direct Lattice

bj ÝÑ PLV of Reciprocal Lattice
δij ÝÑ Kronecker delta
where Kronecker delta is defined as

From above equation we can contruct reciprocal lattice vectors (b1 , b2 , b3 ) from Real Lattice vectors(a1 , a2 , a3 )
2πa2 ˆ a3
b1 “
a1 ¨ pa2 ˆ a3 q
2πa3 ˆ a1
b2 “
a1 ¨ pa2 ˆ a3 q
2πa1 ˆ a2
b3 “
a1 ¨ pa2 ˆ a3 q
It is easy to see that through above reciprocal vectors the equation ai ¨ bj “ 2πδij is satisfied(check on your
own)

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5.2.1 Proof that bi are PLV of Reciprocal Lattice
Now given vectors b1 , b2 , b3 we have claimed that these are indeed the primitive lattice vectors for the
reciprocal lattice, To prove this let us write an arbritary point in reciprocal space as
G “ m1 b1 ` m2 b2 ` m3 b3
where m1 , m2 ,3 are not necessarily integers
To Prove: We would prove that for G to be a point in reciprocal space m1 , m2 , m3 has to be
integers
To find points of the reciprocal lattice we must show that Eq. 1.1 is satisfied for all points R “ n1 a1 ` n2 a2 `
n3 a3 of the direct lattice with n1, n2, and n3 integers. We thus write
eiGm Rn “ eipm1 b1 `m2 b2 `m3 b3 q¨pn1 a1 `n2 a2 `n3 a3 q “ e2πipn1 m1 `n2 m2 `n3 m3 q “ 1
The above expression (which is the condition for G to be a reciprocal lattice) is only true when m1 , m2 , m3
are integers. Thus points of reciprocal lattice are precisely of the from
G “ m1 b1 ` m2 b2 ` m3 b3
where
m1 , m2 , m3 are integers

5.3 Reciprocal Lattice of Different Unit Cells

We know the relation between b1 , b2 , b3 and a1 , a2 , a3 , from abov. before we proceed with examples a few
things to note are
Volume of Primitive Cell=Vcell =|a1 ¨ pa2 ˆ a3 q|
which is the denominator term in all b1 , b2 , b3 expressions

5.3.1 Simple Cubic Lattice

The simple cubic lattice has primitive vectors a⃗1 “ aî,a⃗2 “ aĵ and a⃗1 “ ak̂ , has a volume of cell Vcell “ a3
The corresponding primitive lattice vectors in Reciprocal space can be obtained as-

a2 pĵ ˆ k̂q 2π
b⃗1 “ 2π “ î
a3 a

a2 pk̂ ˆ îq 2π
b⃗2 “ 2π 3
“ ĵ
a a
a2 pî ˆ ĵq 2π
b⃗3 “ 2π “ k̂
a3 a
Hence we note that reciprocal lattice of a Simple Cubic cell is also a Simple cubic cell with lattice constant
of 2π
a

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5.3.2 Body Centered Cubic
When a set of primitive vectors for the bcc lattice are given by a⃗1 “ a2 pî ` ĵ ´ k̂q , a⃗2 “ a2 p´î ` ĵ ` k̂q and
a⃗3 “ a2 pî ´ ĵ ` k̂q, has a volume of cell Vcell “ a3 {2
The corresponding primitive lattice vectors in Reciprocal space can be obtained as-
2π
b⃗1 “ pî ` ĵq
a
2π
b⃗2 “ pĵ ` k̂q
a
2π
b⃗3 “ pk̂ ` îq
a
The bcc primitive lattice vectors in the reciprocal lattice are just the primitive vectors of an
fcc lattice.

5.3.3 Face Centered Cubic

We know that the primitive vectors of fcc primitive lattice may be defined by a⃗1 “ a2 pĵ ` k̂q,a⃗2 “ a2 pî ` k̂q
and a⃗3 “ a2 pĵ ` îq. Thus primitive vectors in reciprocal space are

2π
b⃗1 “ p´î ` ĵ ` k̂q
a
2π
b⃗2 “ pî ´ ĵ ` k̂q
a
2π
b⃗3 “ pî ` ĵ ´ k̂q
a
The fcc primitive lattice vectors in the reciprocal lattice are just the primitive vectors of an
bcc lattice.

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We obtain hence
Real Lattice Reciprocal Lattice
SC(a) SC( 2π
a q
BCC(a) FCC( 4πa q
FCC(a) BCC( 4πa q

5.4 Reciprocal Lattice as Fourier Transform

Quite generally one can think of the reciprocal lattice as being a Fourier transform of the direct lattice. Real
Lattice can be given Rn “ an. So i can express density of atoms in real lattice as
ÿ
ρprq “ ρpr ´ anq
n

Taking Fourier Transform of above function

Here in the last step this sum leads to infinity only when k “ 2πm a that is when k is a point in reciprocal
space. If k is not a reciprocal lattice then terms of sum oscillate and we get the sum as zero

6 Lattice Directions and Planes

6.1 Families of Lattice Planes
The definition of a lattice plane is-
A lattice plane (or crystal plane) is a plane containing at least three non-collinear (and there-
fore an infinite number of ) points of a lattice.
The definition of family of lattice planes is-
A family of lattice planes is an infinite set of equally separated parallel lattice planes which
taken together contain all points of the lattice.

Now that we have defined lattice planes we can prove 2 things

• The families of lattice planes are in one-to-one correspondence9 with the possible directions of reciprocal
lattice vectors, to which they are normal
• Further, the spacing between these lattice planes is d “ 2π{|Gmin | where Gmin is the minimum length
reciprocal lattice vector in this normal direction

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To prove this we first note that reciprocal lattice vector is always orthogonal to family of lattice
planes. So we consider set of planes defined by point x such that

G ¨ x “ 2πm (1.2)

where m is an integer and G and x are perpendicular to each other. This defines an infinite set of parallel
planes perpendicular to G.Since eiG¨x “ 1 we know that every lattice point is a member of one of these
planes (since this is the definition of G in (1.1)). However, for the planes defined by (1.2), not every plane
needs to contain a lattice point (so generically this is a family of parallel equally spaced planes, but not a
family of lattice planes). For this larger family of planes, the spacing between planes is given by

2π
d“ (1.3)
|G|

To prove this from equation (1.2) we know that

G ¨ px2 ´ x1 q “ 2π
2π
Hence the distance between 2 parallel planes(x2 , x1 ) is given as |G|
So as we change the magnitude of G, the distance between family of planes changes and hence the density
of plane changes. For example , If magnitude of G is increase by twice , the density of planes also increases
by twice.For us to get family of planes at maximum possible distance and still include all lattice points, we
would have to choose minimum value of G that is Gmin and spacing between these planes is d “ 2π{|Gmin |

Family of Lattice Planes when G “ Gmin

Family of Lattice Planes when G “ 2Gmin , not every plane contain lattice points

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6.2 Miller Indices
There is a useful notation for describing lattice planes (or reciprocal lattice vectors) known as Miller indices.
In terms of these vector bi one write ph, k, lq or phklq with integers h,k and l to represent family of planes or
reciprocal space vector. These are known as miller indices

Gh,k,l “ hb1 ` kb2 ` lb3

Here b1 , b2 , b3 are primitive reciprocal lattice vectors and any set of Miller indices phklq represent a reciprocal
space vector.For family of lattice planes one should see the smallest reciprocal vector that means that h, k, l
should have no common divisors.
From equation (1.3) we can write
2π 2π
dh,k,l “ “a
|G| h |b1 | ` k 2 |b22 | ` l2 |b3 |2
2 2

where we have assumed that the coordinate axes of the lattice vectors bi are orthogonal. Recall that in the
case of orthogonal axes |bi | “ 2π{|ai | where ai are the lattice constants in the three orthogonal directions.
Thus we can equivalently write
1 h2 k2 l2
“ ` `
|d2h,k,l a21 a22 a23
For cubic lattice this simplifies to
a
dcubic
h,k,l “
?
h2 `k2 `l2

A useful shortcut to find the miller indices of a given set of family of planes is-
1. Find the intercepts of the plane on the crystallographic axes
2. Take reciprocal of these intercepts

3. Simplify to remove fractions(if any) and enclose the numbers obtained into a paranthesis

6.2.1 Example of Miller Indices

Given is a family of planes for which we have to find the Miller indices

Solving above using the steps mentioned

1. Intercepts of the given plane are x=2 , y=2 and z=3

2. Taking reciprocal we get x1 “ 1{2 y1 “ 1{2 and z1 “ 1{3
3. Now reducing them to integers we get h=3, k=3 and l=2 (Multiplying by 6)

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If a plane intercepts an axes on negative side a bar is put above the corresponding number of Miller indices.A
family of plane of particular type is represented by enclosing Miller indices of any one of the planes of that
family into braces.Thus 100 represent family of planes that has p100q, p010q, p001q, p1̄00q, p01̄0q, p001̄q. These
six planes represenr faces of a cube

2 planes belonging to each one of the families (100),(111),(110)

Multiplicity of (100)=6

Multiplicity of (110)=6

Multiplicity of (111)=8

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