CHAPTER2DEFECTSINCRYSTALSAND.PDFVIP

1 CHAPTER 2 DEFECTS IN CRYSTALS AND DISLOCATIONS 2.1-POINT AND LINE DEFECTS All real crystals contain imperfections which may be point, line, surface or volume defects, and which disturb locally the regular arrangement of the atoms. Their presence can significantly modify the properties of crystalline solids. Furthermore, for each material there can be a specific defect which has a particular influence on the material properties. In this work are presented point and line defects. 2.1.1-Point defects All the atoms in a perfect lattice are at specific atomic site, if the thermal vibration is ignored. In a pure metal two types of point defects are possible, namely a “vacant atomic site” or “vacancy”, and a “self interstitial atom”. These intrinsic defects are schematically shown in figure 2.1 Figure 2.1 - Vacancy and self-interstitial atom in an (001) plane of a simple cubic lattice The vacancy has been formed by the removal of a single atom from its lattice site in the perfect crystal. The interstitial has been formed by the introduction of an extra atom into an interstice between perfect lattice sites. Vacancies and interstitial can be produced in materials by plastic deformation and high-energy particle irradiation. Furthermore, intrinsic point defects are introduced into crystals simply by virtue of temperature, for at all temperatures above 0 K there is a thermodynamically stable condition. The equilibrium concentration of defects, given by the ratio of the number of defects to the number of atomic sites, corresponding to the condition of minimum free energy is (2.1) Where K is the Boltzmann’s constant, T is the temperature expressed in deg Kelvin, and Ef is the energy of formation of one defect.