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The Bravais lattice, or space lattice, is an infinite array of points, determined by the
lattice vectors , where such that every is an integer. The 's are
the three primitive vectors of the Bravais lattice; in three dimensions they must have a
nonzero product. There are an infinite number of different choices for
the primitive vectors of a given lattice. For example, ; ; and
will describe the same lattice. The lattice spacings are the lengths of the
shortest possible set of primitive vectors.
All three crystals in Figure 1.1 have the same Bravais lattice. Note that not all
symmetric arrays of points are Bravais lattices! For example, Figure 1.2 shows a
honeycomb lattice and a choice for its Bravais lattice and basis.
Figure 1.2: Example of a regular array of points that is not a Bravais lattice (honeycomb
lattice).
Wigner–Seitz cell
A Wigner–Seitz cell is an example of another kind of primitive cell. The primitive
unit cell (or simply primitive cell) is a special case of unit cells which has only one
lattice point combined and shared by eight other primitive cells. It is the most
"primitive" cell one can construct, and it is a parrallelepiped. The general unit cell has
an integral number of lattice points. The simple cubic lattice is the only primitive unit
cell conventionally. The body centered cubic (BCC) and face centered cubic (FCC)
lattices are simply unit cells, not primitive.
The general mathematical concept behind the primitive cell is termed the fundamental
domain or the Voronoi cell. The primitive cell of the reciprocal lattice in momentum
space is called the Brillouin zone.
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Primitive lattice Cell
An ideal crystal is constructed by the infinite repetition of identical structural units in
space. In the simplest crystals the structural unit is a single atom, as in copper, silver,
gold, iron, aluminium, and the alkali metals.
The structure of all crystals can be described in terms of a lattice, with a group of
atoms attached to every lattice point. The group of atoms is called the basis; when
repeated in space it forms the crystal structure. The basis consists of a primitive cell,
containing one single lattice point. Arranging one cell at each lattice point will fill up
the entire crystal.
2
Number of Restriction on
System Lattice Symbol
Lattices crystal cell angle
P or sc, I or bcc, a=b=c
Cubic 3
F or fcc α =β =γ=90°
a=b≠c
Tetragonal 2 P, I
α=β =γ=90°
a≠b≠ c
Orthorhombic 4 P, C, I, F
α=β =γ=90°
a≠b≠ c
Monoclinic 2 F, C
α=β=90 °≠β
a≠b≠ c
Triclinic 1 P
α≠β≠γ
a=b=c
Trigonal 1 R α=β =γ <120°
,≠90°
a=b≠c
Hexagonal 1 P α =β =90°
γ=120°
Table 1. Seven crystal systems make up fourteen Bravais lattice types in three
dimensions.
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Properties of cubic system:
1
Corner points = ×N
8
Body centred = N
1
Face centered = ×N
2