Crystalline Imperfections

Questions to Answer:
What types of defects arise in solids?
Can the number and types of defects be
varied and controlled?

How can we view crystalline defects?

Imperfections in Solids
There is no such thing as a perfect crystal.
What are these imperfections?
Why are they important?
Many of the important properties of materials
are due to the presence of imperfections.

Crystalline imperfections and defects

lattice irregularities having one or more of its
dimensions on the order of an atomic
diameter
Point Defects
associated with one or two atomic positions
a. Vacancy
vacant lattice site or missing atom from
atomic site
may be formed during solidification or by
atomic rearrangement
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 equilibrium number of vacancies, NV is

given by:

where,

N total number of atomic sites

QV energy required for the formation of a vacancy
T absolute temperature (in K)
k Boltzmanns constant (1.38 x 10-23 J/atom-K)

b. Interstitialcy/ Self-Interstitial
- an atom from the crystal is positioned in
an interstitial site between the matrix
atoms
*interstitial site a small void space
which under ordinary circumstances is not
occupied

- does not generally occur naturally due to

resulting structural distortion
- can be introduced by irradiation
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Two-dimensional representations of a vacancy

and a self-interstitial.

Impurities in Solids
Alloys
impure metals
impurity atoms have been intentionally
added to impart specific characteristics to
the material

Impurities in Solids
Solid Solutions
result from the addition of impurity atoms to
a metal, without the formation of new
structures (crystal structure is maintained)
they are compositionally homogeneous:
the impurity atoms are randomly and
uniformly dispersed in the solid
solute the element or compound present
in minor concentration
solvent the element or compound present
in the greatest amount
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Impurity point defects

Substitutional solid solution
solute or impurity atoms replace or
substitute for the host atoms
Ex. Copper-Nickel alloy
Interstitial solid solution
impurity atoms fill the voids or interstices
among the host atoms
the normal concentration of interstitial
impurity atoms is low (less than 10%)
Ex. Carbon in Iron
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Two-dimensional schematic representations of

substitutional and interstitial impurity atoms.
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Hume-Rothery Solubility Rules

1. r (atomic radius) < 15%
2. Proximity in periodic table
i.e., similar electronegativities

3. Same crystal structure for pure metals

4. Valency
All else being equal, a metal will have a greater tendency to
dissolve a metal of higher valency than one of lower valency

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Dislocations - Linear defects

a linear defect around which some of the
atoms are misaligned
significant in plastic deformation by shear
stresses
may increase the strength of a material
when present in large numbers

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Edge dislocation
formed when the edge of an extra plane of
atoms, a half plane, terminates within the
crystal
a linear defect that centers around the line
that is defined along the end of the extra
half-plane of atoms
Burgers vector, b
- describes the magnitude and direction of
the lattice distortion associated with a
dislocation
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The atom positions around an edge dislocation; extra

half-plane of atoms shown in perspective.

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Screw dislocation
may be thought of as being formed by a
shear stress that is applied to produce the
distortion

Mixed Dislocation
a combination of a screw and edge
dislocation

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A screw dislocation within a crystal.

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Schematic representation of a dislocation that has edge,

screw, and mixed character.

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A transmission electron
micrograph of a
titanium alloy in which
the dark lines are
dislocations. 51,450X.

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Interfacial defects
are boundaries that have two dimensions
and normally separate regions of the
materials that have different crystal
structures
a. External surfaces
- where the crystal structure terminates
- have a higher energy state than the
atoms at the interior positions since they
are not bonded to the maximum number of
nearest neighbors
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b. Grain boundaries
- a boundary separating two small regions
in crystals having different crystallographic
orientations in polycrystalline materials
- areas of higher energy due to the
presence of interfacial or grain boundary
energy

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Schematic diagram
showing small and highangle grain boundaries and
the adjacent atom
positions.
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c. Twin boundaries
- special types of grain boundary across
which there is a specific mirror lattice
symmetry
d. Stacking Faults
- interruptions in the stacking sequence of
close-packed planes in the FCC structure

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Twin plane

Schematic diagram showing a twin plane or

boundary and the adjacent atom positions
(colored circles).

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Bulk or volume defects

Bulk or volume defects
three dimensional defects
normally introduced during processing and
fabrication of the material
ex. pores, cracks, foreign inclusions and
other phases
*Atomic vibrations
vibrations of atoms about their lattice
positions
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Microscopic examination structure

Microstructure
structural features observed under some
type of microscope
Photomicrograph
the photograph on which the image of the
microstructural features are recorded

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High-purity polycrystalline
lead ingot in which the
individual grains may be
discerned. 0.7x.

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Optical Microscopy
Useful up to 2000X magnification.
Polishing removes surface features (e.g., scratches)
Etching changes reflectance, depending on crystal
orientation.

crystallographic planes

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Photomicrograph of a
polycrystalline brass specimen.
60x

Photomicrograph of an ironchromium alloy in which the

grain boundaries appear dark.
100x

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Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM)

Atoms can be arranged and imaged!

Carbon monoxide
molecules arranged
on a platinum (111)
surface.

Iron atoms arranged on a

copper (111) surface. These
Kanji characters represent the
word atom.
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A scanning probe
micrograph (generated
using a scanning-tunneling
microscope) that shows a
(111)-type surface plane for
silicon.

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Size ranges for several structural features found in materials

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Useful resolution ranges for four microscopic

techniques
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Summary
Point, line, area and volume defects exist in real
solids.
The number and type of defects can be varied and
controlled (e.g., temperature controls vacancy
concentration).
Defects affect material properties.
A variety of techniques are available to image
crystalline defects.
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