Problem Set 3
Problem Set 3
Homework #3
Miller and Miller-Bravais Indices
Due 5pm Wednesday Oct. 23
Turn in outside of Durand 110 or email to duerloo at stanford.edu
1. Structure Determination with HRTEM Images
High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is now capable of showing directly the atomic
arrangements in solids, both in perfect and defective crystals. The material is generally aligned with a low
index direction (e.g. [100], [110], [111]) parallel to the imaging electron beam whereby the atoms line up
and are seen in projection. Reference of the image to these low index projections, therefore, allows the study
the atomic configurations directly.
The first figure below shows a high resolution image of a FCC Au-Fe nanoparticle with lattice constant 0.39
nm. The scale marker is approximately correct, but not exactly so.
a) Draw several unit cells of the FCC structure projected in the low index orientations [100], [110], and
[111]. Compare orientations with the image, and so establish the projection orientation and the viewing
direction in the image.
o One of the crystal viewing web applications mentioned in class may aid in drawing the projections.
It may be helpful to eliminate any 3D perspective imposed by the viewer.
o Note that the spacings of low index (i.e. {100}, {110}, and {111}) planes perpendicular to these
three projections differ. If you have trouble establishing the projection plane of this TEM image,
you may wish to measure the interplanar spacing of three non-parallel sets of crystal planes in the
image using the scale bar and compare with the distances computed for the low index planes
visible in the three projections. To maximize the accuracy of your interplane spacing
measurements, you may wish to take an average over many planes in the image rather than
measure the distance between adjacent planes. Comparison of the angles between low index
planes may also help shed light on the projection shown in the image.
o You could do your measurements using a drawing program (e.g. PowerPoint) or the old fashioned
way using a printed version of the image and ruler.
b) Using your knowledge of cubic crystallography, outline the projected FCC unit cell in the drawing. Take
the projection to be on either the (100), (110), or (111) plane as you have determined. Now label
consistently (i.e. not using curly braces for planes) the other low index planes revealed by the HRTEM image
using (hkl) Miller indices.
c) In the second figure, an iron nanoparticle is shown. The label of the scale marker has some error: it is
closer to 3.6 nm. The nanoparticle could be in either the FCC or BCC structures. From the projections of
the FCC and BCC structures onto low-index planes (using a Java viewer or otherwise), determine whether the
particle is FCC or BCC and the direction in which it is being viewed. Take the bulk lattice constants for the
FCC and BCC Fe to be 0.360 nm and 0.287 nm, respectively. As in part a), indexing the observed crystal
planes from their interplanar spacing helps solve the problem.
MATSCI 193/203
Atomic Arrangements in Solids
Fig.1: HRTEM of Au-Fe nanoparticle (Courtesy of H. Li, PhD, Stanford University, 2008)
MATSCI 193/203
Atomic Arrangements in Solids
MATSCI 193/203
Atomic Arrangements in Solids
MATSCI 193/203
Atomic Arrangements in Solids
e) Within the (0001) plane of an hcp crystal, give standard notation 4-index vectors between an atom and all
of its six nearest neighbor atoms. Check (or arrive at) your results by permuting the relevant indices.