UNIT 5 DEFECTS IN SOLIDS

Structure
5.1 Introduction
Objectives
5.2 Types of Defects
5.2.1 Point Defects
5.2.2 Vacancies and Interstitial Atoms
5.3 Concentration of Point Defects
5.4 Line Defects Dislocations
5.4.1 Edge Dislocation
5.4.2 Screw Dislocation
5.4.3 Mixed Dislocation
5.4.4 Magnitude of Dislocatioli and Burgers Vectors
5.4.5 Burgers Circuit
5.4.6 Significance of Burgers Vector
5.5 Energy of Dislocations
5.6 Planar DefectsISurfaceImperfections
5.6.1 Grain Boundaries
5.6.2 Twin Boundaries
5.6.3 Stacking Fault
5.7 Bulk or Volume Defects

5.9 Key Words

5.10 Answers to SAQs

5.1 INTRODUCTION 9.

This unit introduces you to various types of deviation from ideal crystal structures that you
have studied jn Unit 3. Earlier Unit described the possible crystal structures and also
discussed how to grow them. Idoally, most crystalline solids are considered to be a perfect
periodic (uray of a t o m whose arr'angement conforms to the symmetry of 230 space groups
(doscribed in Unit 3). The term defect or imperfection is generally used to describe any
deviation froin such (anorderly structures. Actually no solid can havo such perfect order of
the atoms in a space as described Uleoretically. In other words, every solid object has some
defect present in the struclure. Presence of these defects affect the physical and mechanical
properlies of engineering materials. These defects also control processes and explain
phenomena such as annealing, precipitation, diffusion, sintering, oxidation etc. Most of the
structure se~~sitiveproperties lor example yield strength, fracture strength, I hcl.mal
conductivity, and electrical conductivity depend on the presence and concentration of
defects. Advances in production technologies of ~naterialshelp in reducing the number of
defects, however, Uley do not eliminate defects completely. For example, in silicon wafer
manufacturing, which represents one of the most advanced technologies, zero defect density
refers to about 100 defects per square centimeter.
Although, manjj of the properties mentioned above are profoundly sensitive to deviation
fromcrystalline perfection, the influence is not always adverse, often special characteristics
are obtained by the introduction of controlled amount of particular types of defects. In fact
controlled number of defects in silicon is essential to produce any solid state electronic
device. Similarly, intentional addition of interstitial and substitutional atoms in the structure
of material for~nsthe basis for strengthening the malerial.
Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able lo :
understand various types of defects,
* h o w formatiodorigin of these defebts,
Structure of Materials * calculate the concentrationof point defects, and
find energies of dislocations.

5.2 TYPES OF DEFECTS

All defects and imperfections can be considered under three main catagories : point defects.
line defects and planar defects or interfacial or grain boundary defects. If the deviation from
periodic arrangement is localised to the vicinity of only few atoms it is called point defect.
On the other hand; if the deviation extends through microscopic regions in the crystals it is
called lattice imperfection, because it produces a discontinuity in the lattice, used to
describe the actual periodicity of an atomic array in a crystal. There are essentially two
types of lattice imperfection that can exist in the clystals : line defects, so called because
they propagate as lines in a crystal and plane defects which have an aerial extent. Although
described in detail in this unit, they are summarised in Table 5.1.
5.2.1 Point Defects
Point defects can be divided into vacancies, interstitials and impu~i4ies.V0%etb1,i vacancies
or interstitial defects predominate in a particular crystal will depeel~!on Rlnc re4:;~~xc
al:lrrgies
of foration of these defects, which are in turn determined by geormletrica1t'iba;k>rb.

5.2.2 Vacancies and lnters~tialAtoms

A vacancy is obtained by removing an atom from the crystal lattice site where tl~eatom is
usually present; and interstitial atom is an additional atom added in an interstilial position.
In the presence of these two point defects an otherwise regular lattice looks as sl~owlin
Figure 5.1. In a given crystal, vacancy or interstitial defect may predominate depcndirlg 611
the energy of formation of these defects, which may further depend on geometrical factors.
The energies of defect formation are discussed in next section.

(PI (b)
Figure 5.1 : Paint Defects in Solids a) Vncaney b) Interstitial
Table 5.1

i" Defects

Line Defects
Interstitial
Schottkey defects
F~enkeldefect
Edge dislocation
Extra atom in an interstitial sitc.
Atom missing from correct site
Atom displaced to interstitial site creating nearby vacancy.
Row of atoms marking edge of crystallogtnphic plane
extending only part way in crystal
I
Plane
Screw dislocation

Linear
Row of ntoms about which a normal crystallographic plane
appears to spiral.
Boundary between adjacent perfect boundmy perfect regions
I
Defects in thesame crystal that are slightly tilted with respect to each
other
Grain Boundary Boundary between two puts of closer packiug hnving
Stacking fnult alternative stacking sequence

defects disturbs the perfect arrangement of the surrour~dingatoms.

or a small substitutional atom is present, the surrounding atoms collapse
towards the point defect, stretching h e bonds between the surrounding atoms and producing
I
 a tensile stress field. An interstitial or large fljlbstitutional atom pushes the surrounding Defects in Solids
atom together, producing a compressive stress field. In either case effect is widespread. The
stress fields are shown in Figure 5.2.

(a 1 Ib)
Figure 5.2: a) Regresentntion of Tensile Lattice Strains Produced on Host Atoll1 by
Smnllcr Substitutional Impurity Atom; b) Representation of Compressive Lattice
Stsnins Produced on Host Atom by Larger S ~ b ~ t i t u Q i o Impurity
11~1 Atom

5.3 CONGENTMTION OF POINT DEFECTS

Defect sucli as vacancies and interstitials are internally induced by thermal fluctuation in Nie
aterial. The presence of defects changes botli, h e internd energy of tlie crystal as well as
f"
its entropy. Consequently, their equilibrium concentration is a function of energy of
Cormation and tlie equilibrium teniperature. The equilibrium concentration of Schottky
defect may be determined as fdllows. The assumption is that only one type of defect
(Schottky defects ) is present id the material. Before discussing tlie calculation let us
recollect the definitions of b o a Scliottky and Frenkel defects in an ionic crystal. A Frenkel
defect is a vacancy interstitial pair li~rrmdwhen an ion jumps from anorinal lattice point to
an interstitial site leaving behirid a vacancy. Tlie Scliottky defect is a pair of vacancies in an
ionically bonded material. Schematic of both these defects ill ionic crystals are shown in
Figure 5.3.

Rgure 5.3 :Defect in Ionic Crystals a) Schottky b) Qrcl~lrel

Let,
N = The total number of atoms in a crystal of unit volume EMBED Equation
n = Number of Schottky defect per unit volume.
E ,= Energy formation of a Schottky defect i.e. the energy required to move wl
atom from its lattice site within the crystal to a lattice site on its surface.
m e number of ways in which a Scliottky defect can occur is given by

The enlropy associated with this situation, S = k In (number of ways), where k is Boltzman
constant.
The energy is given by

The change in free energy (neglecting volume chmges) is given by

F =E-TS
lnN!-Inn!-h(N-n,) !
I
Structure of Materials The most probable equilibrium condition is the one, where the free energy is lninimum with
respect to changes in n
i.e. [El = constant = a

Differentiating and setting it to zero

The factorial terms may be simplified using Stirlings formula for the factorial of large
number.
Thus, InXf = XlnX - X
so that

So the equation reduces to

hence

The equilibrium concentration of Frenkel defects may be found by analogous approach.

Again it is assumed that only these defects are present.
Let,
N = number of atoms in a crystal of unit volume.
N' = number of available interstitial sites per unit volume.
n = number of Frenkel defects (i.e. vacancy interstitial pairs) per unit volume.
E = Energy of formation of Frenkel defects.
Of all the defects available, a vacancy can occur in ways, and an interstitial in ways.
Consequently a Frenkel defect can occur in (f$
I
c')
I
if the events'are assumed to be
I

statisticaily independent.The entropy associated with the situation is S = k In y, ybeing the

number of ways an event occurs. In the present situation

The internal energy is given by E = nfEf

The change in free energy is given by

Minimising and setting to zero

[q
- = constant,=0

In thermal equilibrium one can differentiateequation for F and using Sterling formula to get

Above value is the concentration of Frenkel defects in a crystal in thermal eqilibdvm.

Concentration of point defects in excess of the equilibrium value m a y be obtained by
putting material to non-equilibrium process.
Let us take an example, When 2 crystal is heated, a new value higher than the equilibrium
value of concentration would exit, usually at the surface, which subsequently spreads
throughout the crystal. When this crystal is cooled a lower concentratio11of vacancy is seen
1. #
 +
due to sinks in the Crystal. n l e process needs a finite time. However, if the crystal is cooled Defccts in Snlids
sufficie~itlyrapidly the vacancies do not get finite time to move and get trapped in the
crystal (usually refered to as frozen in) leading to a very high concentration of vacancies.
point defects can be produced in the crystal in various ways
a) by irradiation with high energy particles that, when impinged on the solid may
produce a cascade of atomic displacements and ionisation,
b) plastic deformation,
c) quenching, and
d) by increasing the temperature so as to increase the amplitude of vibration of atoms
thereby increasing the probability of the formation of the defects;
Although these vacancies have atomic dimensions it can affect material properties such as
density and in turn one can calculate the concentration of these defects if one h o w s the
density. This is illuslrated by following example,
Example 5.1
Iron has a measured density of 7.87 mg/m3. The lattice parameters of BCC iron
is 2.866 A. Calculate the percentage of vacancies in pure Iron.

(no of atoins/unit cell ) (55.85 g/g.mole)

P=- = 7.87 mg/m3
(2.885~10-')~ (6.02 x 1 0 ~ ~ )
Thus Ule number of atoms per unit cell

There should be 2 atoms/cell in perfect BCC iron crystal. Thus the difference ,
must be due to presence of vacancies.
(2 - 1.998)
'I~Ius,vacancies = = 0.1%
2
SAQ 1
The energies of formation of Schottky and Frenkel defect in material are 1 eV/atom
(1.6 x 10 - l9 J/atom) and 4 eV/atom (6.4 x 10 - l9 J/atom) respectively. What are
the equilibrium concentration of these defects at 900 K'?
Assume that exponential constant, A, is equal to unity.

6AQ 2
The equilibrium vacancy concentration of Schottky defect in copper are
4x and 14 x at temperatures of 1000 K and 1225 K respectively, What
are the energy of formation of these defects?

5.4 LINE DEFECTS DISLOCATIONS

Dislocations are an extremely important class of crystal defects. They are responsible for
the relative weakness of pure metals and in certain cases (after work hardening) for just the
opposite effect of extra hardness.
A dislocation is regarded as a linear disturbance of the atomic arrangements caused by the
displacement of one group of atom? in a crystal with respect to another. Dislocations play
 as strength and account for Ihe plastic deformtion and the ductility in the materials. They
arise in crystal due to growth accidents, thermal stresses, external stresses causing plastic
flow etc.
5.4.1 Edge Dklocatiow
The distortion of a crystal structure may also be caused by the insertion of arm extra plane of
atoms part way into the crystal. Most of the distortion is concentrated about the edge of the
extra plane, called the "half plane" of extra atoms and so we speak of dislocations as being
#at of line distortion dong the end of the plane. So the dislocation is a line defect. For
example in Figure 5.4 edge dislocation is perpendicular to Ule plane of the page and passing
through point A.

Egrre 5.42 Edge Uislocntion I~troduceddue to sn Extra Nalf Plane of Atoms ABCD

All dislocations have the inlportant cbarxtcr~sticthat the distortion is severe only in t l ~ e
vicinity of the dislocation line. In fact along the dislocation line tile atoms rimy not even
possess the correct number of neighbolus, while, not more than a few atom distance away
from the center, the distortion may be so small that Uie crystal is locally nearly perfect.
The region near the dislocalion line where distorlion is rnaximum (extremely large) is called
the core of the dislocation, here local strain is quite high. Two extreme typc of dislocations
are possible, the edge dislocation and screw dislocation, which are described in the next
sub-section. However any particulu dislocation is usually a mixture of these two
dislocations. Far away from the core, the strain is snlall enough to be described by slrAl
strain elastic theory, and so it is called the elastic region.
5.4.2 Screw Dislc~ca~orm
Let a sharp cut be made part way through a perfect crysta1;furthcr let the material on one
side of the cut be moved up atoms then placed back into contact. The resultant extern~l
character of a crystal is that of Figure 5.5,

tlon
 Clearly a linc 01 dislocation exist along the edge of the cut; the line is called screw Defects in Solids
dislocation. Important feature of the screw dislocation is the new character of the atom I

planes. Complete planes of atoms normal to the dislocation no longer exist. Rather, all
atoms lie on a single surface which spirals from one end of the crystal to another hence the
word screw. The pitch of the screw may be either right handed or left handed, and it may
also be one or more atom distances per revolution. The simple dislocation just described has
a pitch of one atom spacing per revolution. Again, the degree of distortion varies with
distance from the center of the dislocation. Atoms far away from the screw dislocal~onare
in regions of very little local distortion, while atorns near the center are in regions highly
distorted and the local crystalline symmetry is destroyed.
5.4.3 Mixed Dislocation
The edge and screw dislocations mentioned above are considered to be pure extremes of the
linear defects. Most linear defects in the actual materials will be mixed as shown in
Figure 5.6(c), alongwith edge and screw in Figures 5.6 (a) & (b) respectively.

Figure 5.6 : a) Edge b) Screw c) Mixed Dislocation. Note Edge at A and Screw nt B

In this general case, the mixed dislocation has both edge and screw characters. The Burgers
vector for the mixed dislocation is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the line of
dislocation but has a fixed orientation in space that is consistent with our earlier defmitio~ls
for pure dislocations.
5.4.4 Magnitude of Dislocation and Burgers Vectors
The veFtor defining the position of the repeating unit (unit'cell) of a derfect single crystal is
given by equation

where n,, n,, n, are integers and vectors a, b, c represent the primitive translations of the
lattice. With simple lattice structures e.g. with most pure metals, the repeating units are
single atoms (ions). In this case the vector r is simply the position vector of the atoms, For
real crystals equation applies only approximately because of the lattice distortion. If
however the atoms are only slightly displaced from their perfect lattice sites, every atom of
real Iattice belong to unambiguously to some ideal lattice site defined by above equation.
Thus an ideal crystal may be correlated to the real crystal. The region where this is possible
is termed good material, and where it is not possible is termed as bad material. This bad
material can be characterised by Burger Vectors. First let us give closer look to this "bad
material"region. It can be enclosed by the path called Burger Circuit,
5.4.5 Burgers Circuit
At large distances from the dislocation L, the crystal is but slightly distorted, and one can set
up a local correspondence between the points of the real crystal and their homologs in the
perfect crystal.
Beginning with three points such as ABC in the real crystal and the corresponding in the
perfect crystals one can define without ambiguity all neighboring points such as D. All
areas where such a local correlation is possible will be called zones of good crystill. The
center L of dislocation, where this operation is not possible wiIl be a zone of bad crystal.
-.This is shown in Figure 5.7.
Starting from a point such as A and moving step by step, one can pass through all points M
located in good crystal. But if circuit is large enough, the correlation established is not
Structarae oE Materials unique, it can be a function ofthe circuit used. Let us consider for instance the closed path
AEFGA round a zone of a bad crystal (a) the corresponding circuit AEFED iu the perfect
crystal does not close. The vector BA which must be added to the path in the p~rfectcrystal
in order to close it form evidently be independent of the form and position if the circuit ,
and be equal to the Burger Vector of, the dislocation. The circuit AEFGA is called B u r g e r
Circuit.

Vector; a) Heal C a y ~ t d b)
Figure 5.7: Burgers Circuit and B~~rgors , Perfect Crys:n

Three Important properties of Burger Vector are :

1) b depends only on the nature of the bad crystal around L, nor eviderltly on h e origin or
the form of the circuits if the latter.
2) The Burgers vector of a circuit enclosing several dislocation is equal to Ule surrl o l the
Burgers Vectors of'the dislocation.
3) If a dislocation ends at a node a displacement of the circuit C1 to C1 1 shows t h a t
6, = b2+ b3.
In the general case, if for each dislocation line Ieaming a node such as A, one takes Burgers
circuit C1 circling around each line in tlie same direction seen from point A one has
cbi=O
i

5.4.6 Significance of Burgers Vector

The local expansion, termed the dilatation around the edge dislocation can be described by
a simple analytical expression, 7he dilatntion A at a point near an edge dislocation is given.

The factor b, the magnitude of the vector is called the Burgers Vectors. It is a measure of
the strength of the distortion caused by the dislocation. The p4mtityr is the radial distana
from the point to the dislocation line, and 8 is angle defined in Figure 5.8. The sign nf
dilation, positive for expansion and negative for compression is proper if 8 is measured as
shown.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
b
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - b o 0 0 0

OOO--Y-oOOO"
0

0
0

0
0

0
0

0
0

0
0

0 O
0

O
0

O
0

O
0

O
0

Q
0

0 0 0 0 0 9 o o o o o o

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Figure 5.8 r Atomic Arrangemeut of Atoms in Edge Dislocntion Reproduced here to Exy]&
Significance of Burgers Vectors
 contrast to the type of distortion surrounding the edge dislocation, the atom near the
cellterof the screw dislocation are not in dilatation but are on a twisted or stressed lattice.
These atoms being on a spkal ramp, are displaced from their original positions in the perfect
. czy~talaccording to the equation which describes the spiral ralw

The Z axis is along the dislocation, and u, is the displacement in the direction. The a l e 8
is measured from some axis perpendicular to the dislocation; notethat as 8 increases by 2 n,
the displacement increases by tile factor b. The vector b is again the Burgers Vector 'and is a
measure of strength of the dislocation.
Partial Dislocation : A dislocation having a Burgers Vector which is iiot a lattice
translation.
-
5.5 ENERGY OF DISLOCATIONS
The energy of a dislocation can he estimaled by assuming that the crystal behave as an
elastic solid during the process of creation of Ule dislocation. Calculation of the energy can

edge dislocation.
1
easily be performe for a strength screw dislocation, howevcr, the results are similar for an

Starting with theBrfect crystal let it cut be made in the way described in sub-section 5.4.2.
for a screw dislocation and let the two sides of the cul be displaced with respect to each
other by distance b in the prescribed manner. For the displacement to be made, a
distribution of forces ~ m sbe
t exerted over the surface if the cut ,and tlne work done by the
forces in making the displacement b is equal to the energy of the dislocalion, Ud.

Tllus the integral is evaluated over the area of the surface of the cut the force F is the
average force over unit area at ;I point 011 tlie surface during tl~edisplacement. The average
value must be used because tl~eforce at a point builds up liniearily from zero to maximum
value as the displacement is carried out.
To calculate the energy, we must have a cluantitativc estimate of the magnitude of the
force F. This can be ui~derstoodas follows (Figure 5.9).

Figure 5.9 r Detcrminntion of Dinloc~tionEnergy around a Screw Dislocation

Let the crystal be corisidered as a series of concentric cylindrical shells, with the dislocation
in the center. Each shell is cut aloi~gits cylindrical length where the cut is then displaced
with respect to the other side by a distance b. If the tllickness of shell is small then
geonlettical configuration of the shell is not important for calculating the resistance force
during the displacement.
In particular, the force will be the sane if the shell is opened out is reduced to consideration
of die she'aring displacement of a plate. For small shearing displacement, Hooke's law
surely holds. Therefore, force per unit area,f, necessary to shear a cylindrical shell a
distance r from the center of the dislocation into the final configuration by amount b is just
Structure of Materials where j,t is the shear modulus of the material. In the calculation of the energy needed to
displace the cylindrical shell, the average force duting the complete displacement to b is
used.
The average force <f, > is just one half of the final value when the displacement is b.
1
Thus, F=<f,> =~ f .

The energy of dislocation is

S,incedA = dz dr, Udfor dislocation of length 1 is

Thus,

The energy calculated by using above equation depends on the valucs t:ri\eu t'cr thv
integration limits on r. For a crystal of infinite size, the energy of a single dis1or:ation is
infinite.
However, crystals of ordinary size (say 1cm on an edge) contain many dislocations. These
dislocations in a random distribution cancel out each others strain fields at distances
approximately equal to the mean distance between them. Experimental observations show
that the mean distance of separation of lo4atom spacing; hence r, is of this order.
As r -+ 0, the expression becomes divergent. However, because of Ule finile size of atoms,
we cannot consider any region of atomic dimensions as an elastic continuum and elasticity
Uleory may not be correct. It is reasonable therefore to consider region within about one
lattice spacing of the geometric center of the dislocation to be a void and to clelotc it from
consideration. In the region within about two spacings of the center of the dislocation, the
core, the discrete nature of the structure is important and displacements are sufficiently
large to bring in nonlinear terms in the core effects can be neglected. For example, the
energy of the dislocation resides primarily in the strained region well outside the core,
because the logarithm is not very sensitive to Ule size of r. If r, is about one or two atom
r1
spacings, the ratio - is about 5 x lo3.
"0

Once this ratio is determined the energy Udcan be calculated easily. The Burgers vector b is
about 2.5 A, p is about 10" ~ewtons/m~. Then Ud is about 4 x lo-' Joules/m of
dislocation length equivalent to about 10 x 1 0-l9 joules (or about 6 eV) per atom length
(2.5 A) of dislocation line, Considerable variation in energy can exist for different solids,
but the range of energy for screw dislocations should be 3 to 10 eV per atom length. The
displacement around edge dislocation is more complicated than for screw. So energy
calculations are more difficult. However, energy in this case is about the same. One of the
important characteristics of dislocation is the fact that unlike point defects particularly
vacancies which exidat equilibrium in significantnumbers given by Boltzmann factor
e-EV'RT, the dislocations in solids seem to have nearly zero equilibrium densities. The 1
reason is that the formation of energy of dislocation is very high. With elastic energy of
about 8 eV per atom length, the Boltzmann factor is
Thus, the dislocationsdensities experimentally
treatment, of the crystal, the method of growth,
history etc. \

5.6 PLANAR DEFECTS/SURI?ACE IMPEWECTIONS

,
i
Surface imperfections in a crystal arise from a change in the stacking of atomic planes
across the boundary. The change may be one of the orientation or the stocking sequence of
the planes. Following are the major imperfections:
 5.6.1 Grain Boundaries Defects in Sollids

Those surface imperfections which separate crystals of different orientations in a

polycrystalline aggregate are shown in Figure 5.10.

-@ ( Graln growth 1

Grain 1

Figurn 5.10 : n) Grain Boundaries in a Polyerystdllne Solid, b) Process of Grain Growth for Reduction
in Grain Boundary Area to Reduce Encrgy

The lattice of each grain is identical but lattice are oriented differently. Thus a grain
boundary is surface that separates the individual grains and is a narrow zone in wllich the
atoms are not properly spaced. The atoms are too close at some locations in the grain
boundary causing a region of compression, while the other areas the atoms are far apart,
causing a region of tension. We can control the properties of the material by grain size
strengthening, this is discussed in the next unit. All grain boundaries have a relatively high
energy, typically 0.2-1 Jlin and as a result they are non-equilibriumdefects. Thus the
crystals will always try to reduce the total grain boundary area in order to reduce the free
energy. This is illustrated in the Figure 5.10.
5.6.2 Twin Boundaries
Surface imperfections which separate two orientations in such a manner that they are
m&or images of one another are called twinboundaries. The volume of the inaterial which
has an orientation that is a11mirror image of a mauix orientation is called twin. This is
shown in Figure 5.11.

~ i ~ u r5.11:
e A Twin Boundary Separates Two Crystdlioe Regions that are, Structurally, Mirror
Images of Each Otl~er
Structure OFMalerids 5.6.3 Stacking h t d i
A stacking fault is a surface imperfection that results from the stocking of one atomic plane
out of sequence on another while the lattice on either side of fault is perfect. For example
the stacking sequence of an ideal FCC crystal may be described as ABC, ABCABC. 'A
stacking fault rniglat change the sequence ABC ABABABC... The stacking fault in this
case is due to the A plane of atoms after the second B. This may be described as a very thin
region of stacking fault hl a FCC crystal.
SAQ 3
Draw a Burger Circuit for an edge dislocation in a primitive cubic crystal. In certain
crystal he Burger vector for an edge dislocation is 2.5 x 10-lo. Calculate Ule force
per mit length on the v dislocation with shear of 350 Nrn2 is applied.

5.7 BULK OR VOLUME DEFECTS I

In the earlier sectioils we considered defects which are of atomic dimensions. Other defects
also exists in all solid materials that are much larger than those discussed. The defects
include pores, cracks, foreign inclusions and other phases. They are normally inlroduced
during processing and fabrication steps. Mese defects affect mechanical properties,
electrical properties, thermal properties and so on.

A11 solid materials contain large number of defects. The several types of defects are
classified on the basis of their geometry and size. Point defects are those associated with
one or two atomic positions, including vacancies, interstitials and impurity atoms.
Dislocations are one-dimensional defects of which edge and screw are pure in nature. the
magnitude and direction of lattice distortion associated with a dislocation is specified by its
Burgers vector. The relative orientations of Burgers vector and dislocation line are
perpendicular for edge, parallel for screw and neither perpendicular nor parallel for mixed.
There are other imperfections which include grain boundaries, twin boundaries, volume
defects such as cracks and pores. We have also discussed the formation of these defects and
how to calculate the concentration of these defects.

5-9 KEY WORDS

Burgers Vector : The direction and distance that a dislocation moves in each
step.
Dislocation Edge : A line imperfection in the lattice of a crystalline material.
Dislocation
Edge Dlslocation : A dislocation introduced into the lattice by adding an "extra
half plane" of atoms.
Frenkel Defect : A pair of point defects produced when an ion moves to create
an interstitial site.
Grain Boundary : A planar defect which represents the boundary between two
grains.
Interstitial Defect r A point defect introduced in the lattice when the atoms leaves
the original site and is present at a site which is not a regular
position in the lattice.
Schottky Defect : A pair of point defect in ionic solids both cation and anion
vacancy form in the solid.
screw Dblocatisn : A dislocation prodluced in the crystal when atomic pime Befe@sin soaids
produces a sprial ramp about the dislocation.
swlring Fault : A surface defect in materials caused by the improper stacking
sequence of closed packed plaaes.
~ w Boundary
h : A surface defect m o s s which there is a &or image
misorientation of the lattice.
Vacancy : Vacancy is created when an atom is missing from a lattice
position.

saQna2
Use equations derived in section 5.3 for concentration and energies of formation of
Schottky and FrenPre1defects, substitute he values given in SAQs 1 $c 2 to get the
answers.
SAQ 3

Use equation for f o ~ on

e the dislocation; substitute the,values given in &e problem
to get the answer.
Structure of Matddds
FURTHER READINGS
1) Askeland, D. R., 1989, The Science and Engineering of Materials, 2nd Edition,
PWS-Kent Publishing Company, Boston.
2) Van Vlack, L. H., 1989, Elements of Materials Science and Engineering, 6th Edition,>
Addison-Wesely Publishing Company, Readind MA.
3) Shackelford, J. F., 1988, Introduction to MaterialsSciencefor Engineers, 2nd Edition,
Macmillian Publishing Company, New Yorli.
4) Narula, G. K., Narula, K.S., Gupta, V. K,,1988, MaterialsScience, Tata McGraw
Hill Publishing Company Ltd., New Delhi.
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