Phys 460 - Homework 2

Problem 1 Fluorine can crystalize into a so-called beta-phase at temperatures

between 45 and 55 Kelvin. See the figure below (or pg 126 of Simon), which shows
the cubic conventional unit cell for the beta phase of fluorine. The top panel is a
three dimensional view, while the bottom shows the plan view in the xy-plane.
When reading a plan view, one should interpret the numbers as the fractional
coordinate in the z-direction of the adjacent atom. Atoms with no numbers are
assume to be in the plane z=0.

(a) How many atoms are in this conventional unit cell?

(b) What are the lattice vectors for this crystal? What is the basis?
1

Problem 2 Consider a series of cannonballs with radius R stacked in a hexagonal

closed packed (hcp) structure, shown below. To be clear, a hcp structure is an
A-B-A-B-A-... stacking of 2D triangle lattices, with the balls of one layer directly
above the center of a triangle formed by three balls in the layer below.

(a) Assume an infinite stack of cannonballs. Write down the lattice vectors for the
primitive cell associated with this structure, and the positional coordinates of all
cannonballs in the basis.
q
c
(b) Prove that the ratio of a = 83 for the hcp structure.

Problem 3 Starting with the constructed reciprocal lattice vectors, bi given on

page 128 of Simon, find the primary lattice vectors
2b2 b3
b1 (b2 b3 )
2b3 b1
=
b1 (b2 b3 )
2b1 b2
=
b1 (b2 b3 )

c1 =
c2
c3

and thus show that the reciprocal lattice of the reciprocal lattice is simply the
direct lattice.
2

Problem 4 The primitive vectors for the hexagonal space lattice may be taken as

a
3a
a1 =
x + y
2
2
3a
a
a2 =
x + y
2
2
a3 = c
z
where a and c are lattice parameters with units of length.
(a) Find the primitive lattice vectors for the reciprocal lattice.
(b)Describe and sketch the first Brillouin zone of the hexagonal space lattice.

Problem 5 Consider the real powder diffraction patterns shown in the two graphs
on the following page. These patterns represent measurements performed with
= 1.5418
A x-rays on two separate materials. The two materials each have one
of BCC, FCC or diamond lattice structures (not necessarily the same one).
(a) Assuming a conventional cubic unit cell with lattice parameter, a, derive the
selection rules dictating when one should expect scattering at reciprocal lattice
position G = 2
x + k
y + l
z ) for each of the BCC, FCC and diamond lattice
a (h
structures.
(b) Using this information, determine the structure of the material which resulted
in each of the two x-ray diffraction patterns. (i.e. What structures are being
investigated here?)
(c) Estimate the lattice parameter of each of the two materials.

(A)

(B)