Engineering Physics

Vasanth Kumar V, Assoc.Prof, ATRI, Uppal

URL: http://vasanthonlinenotesfree.blogspot.com

Structure of Diamond
Diamond is a metastable different structural modifications (allotrope) of carbon where
the each carbon atom is bonded covalently with other surrounding four carbon atoms and are
arranged in a variation of the face centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice.
The diamond cubic structure is a combination of two interpenetrating FCC sub lattices
displaced along the body diagonal of the cubic cell by 1/4th length of that diagonal. Thus the
origins of two FCC sub lattices lie at (0, 0, 0) and (1/4, 1/4, 1/4).
The projections of lattice points (atoms) on bottom face of the cube is observed, the
heights of lattice points are 0 and 1/2 for first sub-lattice points( which has the origin 0,0,0) and
second sub-lattice (which has the origin 1/4, 1/4, 1/4) points are at height 1/4 and 3/4.

Coordination Number (N): In diamond, each carbon atom is bonded covalently with
other nearest surrounding four(4) atoms. Therefore, the coordination number is four(4).
Effective Number (n): In diamond crystal unit cell, at every corner 1/8 th of atoms, at
every face half (1/2) of the atom and 4 atoms (of second sub-lattice) inside the unit cell are
present.
i.e.

8+ 6+4=8

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Engineering Physics
Vasanth Kumar V, Assoc.Prof, ATRI, Uppal

URL: http://vasanthonlinenotesfree.blogspot.com

Relation between lattice constant(a) and atomic radius(r) and Packing Fraction: From the
Diamond unit cell diagram

(2 ) = ( ) + ( ) + ( )
4
4
4
4

=
=

3
16

3
8

Calculation of Packing fraction:

=!=

Packing praction =

4
33
4

4
8 33

"#$%& "''$()&* +, -."%/ )0 $0). '&## "1 2)-%"0*

8 4
5 6
3

!"#$%& "1 $0). '&##

32
3 33
= 3 =
= 0.34
512
16
33

Therefore, the packing fraction of Diamond unit cell is 34%. i.e. the diamond is very loosely
packed structure.

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