Fundamentals of Crystallography

Basic course crystallography

This course will introduce the fundamentals of crystallography. The course also discusses the basics of x-ray diffraction, the most common technique used to analyse (poly-) crystalline materials. The relation between crystal symmetry and diffraction pattern is discussed in some detail.

Participants should obtain a basic understanding of how crystals and polycrystalline materials are built up and how this is reflected in a diffraction pattern.

Topics:

• Crystals - periodicity
• Bravais lattices
• Definition of the unit cell
• Symmetry
• A short description of diffraction
• The relation of the unit cell and peak positions in a pattern (Braggs law)
• Indexing of a diffraction pattern
• The reciprocal lattice
• Unit cell transformations
• Symmetry and systematic extinctions
• Phase Identification from a diffraction pattern