-Atul R.

Aswar(BT16MEC011)
-Mayank D. Bandewar(BT16MEC012)
-Anirudh B(BT16MEC013)
 An ideal crystal is a perfect crystal in which each atom
has identical surroundings. Real crystals are not perfect.
A real crystal always has a large number of
imperfections in the lattice.
Since real crystals are of finite size, they have a surface
to their boundary.
At the boundary, atomic bonds terminate and hence
the
surface itself is an imperfection.
One can reduce crystal defects considerably, but can
never eliminate them entirely.
Point Imperfections
Point defects are defects that occur only at or
around a single lattice point.

Line imperfections
Line defects, or dislocations, are lines along
which whole rows of atoms in a solid are
arranged anomalously. The resulting
irregularity in spacing is most severe along
a line called the line of dislocation.
 The simplest of the point defects is a vacancy, or vacant
lattice site, one normally occupied from which an
atom is missing.
All crystalline solids contain vacancies and, in fact, it is
not possible to create such a material that is free of
these defects. The necessity of the existence of
vacancies is explained using principles of
thermodynamics; in essence, the presence of vacancies
increases the entropy (i.e., the randomness) of the
crystal.
The equilibrium number of vacancies Nv for a given
quantity of material depends on and increases with
temperature according to Nv N exp Qv kT
 Vacancy
Non-ionic Interstitial
Impurity
crystals
Substitutional
Point defects
Frenkel defect
Ionic
Other ~
crystals
Schottky defect
 Missing atom from an atomic site is called a vacancy.
Atoms around the vacancy displaced from their equilibrium
positions.
This gives rise to a stress field in the vicinity of the vacancy.
Based on their origin vacancies can be:
Random/Statistical (thermal vacancies, which are
required by thermodynamic equilibrium) or
Structural (due to off-stoichiometry in a compound).
Based on their position vacancies can be random or ordered.
(Ordered defects become part of the crystal structure and are no
longer defects in the usual sense).
 Vacancies play an important role in diffusion of
substitution atoms and in many other
processes/effects in materials science, including
climb of edge dislocations, some forms of creep and
increased resistivity.
Non-equilibrium concentration of vacancies can be
generated by:
quenching from a higher temperature
bombardment with high energy particles
plastic deformation.
off-stoichiometry in ordered compounds. Etc.
Impurity/Alloying Element/Dopant
A foreign element added (called as impurity/alloying element/dopant based on the context) can go to an interstitial
site (between atoms) or may substitute for an atom of the host.

Overlaid to illustrate the relative size of

atom and void (usually the insterstitial

Interstitial atom is bigger than the void)

Compressive & Shear

Stress Fields
Impurity
Or alloying element

Compressive stress fields

Substitutional

Substitutional Impurity/Element
Foreign atom replacing the parent atom in the crystal
E.g. Cu sitting in the lattice site of FCC-Ni Tensile Stress
Fields
Interstitial Impurity/Element
Foreign atom sitting in the void of a crystal
E.g. C sitting in the octahedral void in HT FCC-Fe
 It refers to a foreign atom that substitutes for
or replaces a parent atom in the crystal.

Pentavalent or trivalent impurity atoms

doped in Silicon or Germanium are also
substitutional impurities in the crystal.
 An interstitial defect arises when an atom occupies a
definite position in the lattice that is not normally
occupied in the perfect crystal.

In crystals, packing density is always less than 1.

If a small sized atom occupies the void space in the

parent crystal without disturbing the parent atoms
from their regular sites, then it is called as
interstitial impurity.
 In metals vacancies are created by thermal excitation.

When the temperature is sufficiently high, as the

atoms vibrate around their regular positions, some
acquire enough energy to leave the site completely.

When the regular atom leaves, a vacancy is created.

A pair of one cation and one anion can be missed from
an ionic crystal. Such a pair of vacant ion sites is called
Schottky imperfection.

This type of defect is dominant in alkali halides.

 In ionic crystals, an ion displaced from a
regular site to an interstitial site is called
Frenkel imperfection.
As cations are generally the smaller ones, it is
possible for them to get displaced into the void
space.
Anions do not get displaced as the void space
is too small compared to the size of the anions.
A Frenkel imperfection does not change the
overall electrical neutrality of the crystal. This
type of defect occurs in silver halides and CaF2.
A dislocation is a linear or one-dimensional defect
around which some of the atoms are misaligned.
 The defects, which take place due to dislocation
or distortion of atoms along a line, in some
direction are called as line defects.
Line defects are also called dislocations. In the
geometric sense, they may be called as one
dimensional defects.
A dislocation may be defined as a disturbed
region between two substantially perfect parts of a
crystal.
It is responsible for the phenomenon of slip by
which most metals deform plastically.
The two types of dislocations are-

1) Edge dislocation

2) Screw dislocation
 In perfect crystal, atoms are arranged in both
vertical and horizontal planes parallel to the
side faces.
If one of these vertical planes does not extend
to the full length, but ends in between within
the crystal it is called edge dislocation.
In the perfect crystal, just above the edge of the
incomplete plane the atoms are squeezed and
are in a state of compression.
Just below the edge of the incomplete plane,
the atoms are pulled apart and are in a state of
tension.
 In this dislocation, the atoms are displaced in two
separate planes perpendicular to each other.
It forms a spiral ramp around the dislocation.
The Burgers Vector is parallel to the screw dislocation
line.
Speed of movement of a screw dislocation is lesser
compared to edge dislocation. Normally, the real
dislocations in the crystals are the mixtures of edge and
screw dislocation.