Assignment no.

2
Samama Fahim (Seat no. H1721075)
1) Define Solid State Physics. List some applications of solid state physics and explain
any two.
Solid-state physic is the study of rigid matter, or solids. The bulk of solid-state physics theory
and research is focused on crystals, largely because the periodicity of atoms in a crystal
facilitates mathematical modeling, and also because crystalline materials often have electrical,
magnetic, optical, or mechanical properties that can be exploited for engineering purposes. The
framework of most solid-state physics theory is the Schrodinger (wave) formulation of non-
relativistic quantum mechanics.
Following are some important applications of Solid-State Physics:
 Electronic devices such as mobiles and computers.
 Optical devices such as lasers and fibre optics.
 Magnet based devices such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and vibrating
devices.
 Silicon-based logic and memory bits.
Electronic devices: The goal of Electronics is figuring out which semiconducting components
when wired together will give one the desired overall effect. Solid-state physics includes the study
of semiconductors and their properties, as they are crystalline solids. From an understanding of
those properties a useful semiconducting component may be conceived. For example, the transistor
is based on a basic understanding of p-n junctions and its rectification properties.
Optical devices: There are a number a solid state (semiconductor) detectors and generators of
electromagnetic radiation. The absorption of photons by both intrinsic and extrinsic
semiconductors is a process that occurs in both photoconductive and photovoltaic devices.
Spontaneous photon emission in semiconductors is the basis for p-n junction luminescence in light-
emitting diodes. All of these applications involve semiconductors, whose crucial properties can
best be understood by the methods of Solid-state physics.

2) Define: Crystals, Basis, Lattice, Primitive unit cell, Wigner-Seitz cell, Grains, and
Symmetry.
Crystals: A solid is said to be a crystal if the atoms are arranged in such a way that their positions
are exactly periodic. Considering the figure below, what this means is that the distance between
any two nearest neighbours along the x-axis is a and that between any two nearest neighbours
along the y-axis is b.
Lattice: In crystallography, only the geometrical properties of the crystal are of interest. Therefore
one replaces each atom by a geometrical point located at the equilibrium position of that atom. The
resulting geometrical pattern is the crystal lattice, or simply the lattice, which is devoid of any
physical contents.
Basis: There are two classes of lattices: Bravais and non-Bravais lattices. Non-Bravais lattices
have some lattice points that are not equivalent.1 A non-Bravais lattice is sometimes referred to as
a lattice with a basis. The basis refers to the set of atoms stationed near each site of Bravais lattice.
In the figure below, the basis is the two atoms A and A’, or any other equivalent set.

Basis Vectors and Unit Cells:

Basis vectors/Primitive vectors: Two noncolinear vectors (a and b in the figure) form a set of
basis vectors for the lattice, in terms of which the position of all lattice points can be conveniently
expressed by the following equation:
𝐑 𝒏 = 𝑛1 𝐚 + 𝑛2 𝐛,
where n1 and n2 are integers. Basis vectors a and b are not unique2, as b’ (= a+b) is another possible
basis vector. Also note that the primitive vectors are the shortest in their respective direction.

Unit cell: The area of the parallelogram (or the parallelogram itself) whose sides are the basis
vectors a and b is called a unit cell of the lattice. The choice of the unit cell for one and the same
lattice is not unique, for the same reason that the choice of basis vectors is not unique. A
parallelogram whose sides are a and b’, instead of b, is also a possible choice for the unit cell.

1
Considering the figure, the lattice is not invariant under a translation by AA’. This makes A and A’ nonequivalent.
2
Must a basis vector be the shortest in length in its respective direction? Yes, but only for the primitive cell.
However, (i) all unit cells have the same area3, and (ii) each unit cell has only one lattice point
because each lattice point is shared by four adjacent cells (refer to figure above).
Primitive unit cell: Unit cell as discussed above is called a primitive unit cell. A primitive unit cell
contains only one lattice point and is made up from lattice points at each of its corners. [Of all the
possible unit cells for a given lattice, a primitive unit cell has the smallest area4. In the figure below,
S1 is a primitive cell and S2 is a non-primitive cell. Clearly, S1 < S2.]

Wigner-Seitz cell: A Wigner-Seitz cell is a primitive unit cell constructed in the following manner:
1) Connect a lattice point to all nearby lattice points using lines.
2) At the midpoint and normal to these lines, draw new lines or planes.
The smallest volume enclosed by the polygon that emerges when the normal lines intersect is the
Wigner-Seitz cell. All space may be filled by these cells as by any other ordinary cell.

Grains: Most solid, crystalline materials that are large enough to see and handle are polycrystalline
– that is, they are made of a large number of single crystals, or crystallites, held together by thin
layers of amorphous solid. A crystallite is a domain of solid-state matter that has the same structure
as a single crystal. The metallurgist refers to crystallites as grains.

3
𝐚 × 𝐛 = 𝐚 × (𝐚 + 𝐛); 𝐚 + 𝐛 = 𝐛′ .
4
Or minimum volume in three dimensions. In three dimensions, area is replaced by volume, and the unit cell as a
parallelogram is replaced by the parallelepiped.
Differently oriented crystallites (grains) in a polycrystalline material.

Symmetry: Symmetry refers to this property of an object that makes it invariant (leaves it
unchanged) under some transformations; including translation, reflection, rotation or scaling.
A crystal possesses a translational symmetry, meaning that if the crystal is translated by any vector
joining two atoms, the crystal appears exactly the same as it did before. In the very first figure, if
the crystal is translated by the vector R, it will look exactly the same as it did before the translation.
Lattice Vectors: The set of all vectors
𝐑 = 𝑛1 𝐚 + 𝑛2 𝐛 + 𝑛3 𝐜,
where a, b, and c are three noncoplanar vectors joining the lattice point at the origin (can be any
point) to nearby points and n1, n2 and n3 are integers, is called the lattice vectors.

3) Differentiate between primitive and non-primitive unit cells, conventional and

primitive unit cells, single and polycrystalline materials.

Primitive verses Non-Primitive Unit Cells:

 A primitive unit cell contains only one lattice point and is made up from lattice points at
each of its corners. Non-primitive unit cell contains additional lattice points, either on the
face of the unit cell or within the unit cell, and so have more than one lattice points per unit
cell.
 [A primitive unit cell is a minimum volume cell. A non-primitive unit cell has its volume
greater than that of the primitive unit cell.]
Conventional verses Primitive Unit Cells:
 Primitive unit cells may be conventional or non-conventional, depending on whether they
capture the full symmetry of the crystal structure. A conventional unit cell is one that has
the full symmetry of its Bravais lattice.5
 The volume of the conventional cell is always an integer multiple of the primitive cell
volume.
Single verses Polycrystalline Materials:
 A crystalline material with a single grain is called single crystal. It has an atomic structure
that repeats periodically across its whole volume. A crystalline material consisting of many
grains of different orientations is called polycrystalline. Each grain can be thought of as a
single crystal, within which the atomic structure has long-range order.

4) Czochralski technique for Si Single Crystal Growth6:

The Czochralski method is the most important method for the production of bulk single crystals
of a wide range of electronic and optical materials. At the beginning of the process, the feed
material is put into a cylindrically shaped crucible and melted. After the feed material is completely
molten a seed crystal with a diameter of typically a few mm is dipped from top into the free melt
surface and a small portion of the dipped seed is melted. A melt meniscus is formed at the contact
interface between seed and melt. Then, the seed is slowly withdrawn from the melt (often under
rotation) and the melt crystallizes at the interface by forming a new crystal portion (the melt
crystallizes as the seed is withdrawn?). During the further growth process, the shape of the crystal,
especially the diameter, is controlled by carefully adjusting the heating power, the pulling rate and
the rotation rate of the crystal.

5
Conventional unit cells may be primitive or non-primitive.
6
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/czochralski-process
The melt in our case is Si melt and the seed is Si seed.

5) FCC Cell:
i)
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
𝐚𝟏 = 𝑥̂ + 𝑦̂ = ( , , 0) ;
2 2 2 2
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
𝐚𝟐 = 𝑦̂ + 𝑧̂ = (0, , ) ;
2 2 2 2
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
𝐚𝟑 = 𝑥̂ + 𝑧̂ = ( , 0, ).
2 2 2 2
ii) Using the two definitions of the dot product we have: 𝑎1 𝑎2 cos 𝛼 = 𝑥1 𝑥2 + 𝑦1 𝑦2 +
𝑧1 𝑧2 .7 So
𝑥1 𝑥2 + 𝑦1 𝑦2 + 𝑧1 𝑧2
cos 𝛼 = ;
𝑎1 𝑎2
𝑥1 𝑥2 + 𝑦1 𝑦2 + 𝑧1 𝑧2
𝛼 = arccos ( ).
𝑎1 𝑎2
As
𝑎2 𝑎2 2𝑎2 √2
𝑎1 = √ + =√ = 𝑎 = 𝑎2 .
4 4 4 2

Therefore,

7
Let the angle between a1 and a2 be α.
𝑦1 𝑦2
𝛼 = arccos ( );
𝑎1 𝑎2
𝑎2
𝛼 = arccos 4 ;
2
√2
( 2 𝑎)
( )
𝑎2 2𝑎2
𝛼 = arccos ( ÷ );
4 4
𝑎2 4
𝛼 = arccos ( × 2 ) ;
4 2𝑎
1
𝛼 = arccos ( ) ;
2
𝜋
𝛼= .
3

iii) The conventional unit cell has the volume 𝑉 = 𝑎3 . Vectors 𝐚𝟏 , 𝐚𝟐 and 𝐚𝟑 form the
primitive non-conventional unit cell. Note that the angle between any two of these
vectors is 60 degrees, while the angle between the sides of a cube is 90 degrees. So we
do not simply multiply the lengths of these vectors to find the volume of the primitive
unit cell. That would be the volume of a cube with sides having the length of these
vectors. We note that the primitive unit cell is a parallelepiped whose sides are these
vectors. The volume of the parallelepiped is given as
𝑣 = |𝐚𝟏 ∙ (𝐚𝟐 × 𝐚𝟑 )|.
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
𝐚𝟏 ∙ (𝐚𝟐 × 𝐚𝟑 ) = ( 𝑥̂ + 𝑦̂) ∙ [( 𝑦̂ + 𝑧̂ ) × ( 𝑥̂ + 𝑧̂ )]
2 2 2 2 2 2
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎2 𝑎2 𝑎2
= ( 𝑥̂ + 𝑦̂) ∙ (− 𝑧̂ + 𝑥̂ + 𝑦̂)
2 2 4 4 4
2 2 2
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
= ( , , 0) ∙ ( , , − )
2 2 4 4 4
3 3
𝑎 𝑎
= +
8 8
2𝑎3
=
8
𝑎3
=
4
so

𝑎3 1
𝑣 = |𝐚𝟏 ∙ (𝐚𝟐 × 𝐚𝟑 )| = = 𝑉.
4 4
FCC lattice

6) BCC Cell:
i)
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
𝐚𝟏 = 𝑥̂ + 𝑦̂ − 𝑧̂ ;
2 2 2
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
𝐚𝟐 = − 𝑥̂ + 𝑦̂ + 𝑧̂ ;
2 2 2
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
𝐚𝟑 = 𝑥̂ − 𝑦̂ + 𝑧̂ .
2 2 2
ii) Let us calculate the angle between 𝐚𝟏 and 𝐚𝟐 . As
𝑥1 𝑥2 + 𝑦1 𝑦2 + 𝑧1 𝑧2
𝛼 = arccos ( ),
𝑎1 𝑎2
𝑎2 𝑎2 𝑎2
− + −
= arccos 4 4 4
2
√3
( 2 𝑎)
( )
𝑎2 4
= arccos (− × 2 )
4 3𝑎
1
= arccos (− ) ≈ 109.471°.
3
iii) The volume of the conventional unit cell is 𝑉 = 𝑎3 . The volume of the primitive unit
cell is given as
𝑣 = |𝐚𝟏 ∙ (𝐚𝟐 × 𝐚𝟑 )|.
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
𝐚𝟏 ∙ (𝐚𝟐 × 𝐚𝟑 ) = ( 𝑥̂ + 𝑦̂ − 𝑧̂ ) ∙ [(− 𝑥̂ + 𝑦̂ + 𝑧̂ ) × ( 𝑥̂ − 𝑦̂ + 𝑧̂ )]
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎2 𝑎2 𝑎2 𝑎2 𝑎2 𝑎2
= ( 𝑥̂ + 𝑦̂ − 𝑧̂ ) ∙ ( 𝑧̂ + 𝑦̂ − 𝑧̂ + 𝑥̂ + 𝑦̂ + 𝑥̂)
2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4
2 2
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
= ( , , − ) ∙ ( , , 0)
2 2 2 2 2
3 3
𝑎 𝑎
= +
4 4
2𝑎3
=
4
𝑎3
= .
2
𝑎3 1
𝑣 = |𝐚𝟏 ∙ (𝐚𝟐 × 𝐚𝟑 )| = = 𝑉.
2 2

BCC

7) There are two atoms per the bcc unit cell. Each atom has one valence electron, so there
are two valence electron per unit cell. As 1A° = 10−10 m, we have
𝑁𝑒 2 2 2 × 1030
𝑛= = −10 3
= −30
= = 0.016 × 1030 = 1.6 × 1028 m3 .
𝑉 (5 × 10 ) 125 × 10 125
8) Radius of spheres in a closed-packed arrangement:
BCC

AH = 𝑟 + 2𝑟 + 𝑟 = 4𝑟.
But

AH = √AD2 + DH 2
As

AD = √2𝑎2 = √2𝑎, and DH = 𝑎

so

AH = √2𝑎2 + 𝑎2
= √3𝑎2 = √3𝑎.
Therefore

4𝑟 = √3𝑎;
√3
𝑟= 𝑎.
4
SC

Each of the corners is the center of the respective sphere. Any line segment from the corner to the
boundary of the section of the sphere constitutes its radius r. One such line is highlighted in red in
the figure above. Since the boundaries are touching, the green segment has length 2𝑟. But the green
segment is also a side of the cube of sides 𝑎, so
2𝑟 = 𝑎,
𝑎
𝑟= .
2

FCC

Consider the triangle ABC in the figure above.

AC2 = AB2 + BC2
AC2 = 𝑎2 + 𝑎2 = 2𝑎2 .
But
AC2 = (4𝑟)2 ,
so
16𝑟 2 = 2𝑎2 ,
1
𝑟 2 = 𝑎2 ,
8
1
𝑟= 𝑎,
√8
1
𝑟= 𝑎.
2√2

9) Packing ratios of FCC and BCC lattices:

FCC
An FCC unit cell contains a total of 4 atoms: each atom at the corner contributes 1/8 the volume
of the atom to the cell, so contributes the volume of 1 atom to the cell. Each atom on the 6 faces
contributes 1/2 the volume of the atom, so contributes the volume of 3 atoms to the cell:
1 1
No. of Atoms per Unit Cell = 8 × + 6 × = 4.
8 2

The volume of the spherical atom is given as

3
4 3 4 1 4 1 1
𝑣 = 𝜋𝑟 = 𝜋 ( 𝑎) = 𝜋 ( 𝑎3 ) = 𝜋𝑎3 .
3 3 2√2 3 16√2 12√2
Volume occupied by total number of atoms per unit cell
Packing ratio = .
Volume of the unit cell

Since there are 4 spherical atoms per FCC unit cell, the total volume they contribute to the cell is
1 1
4𝑣 = 4 (12√2 𝜋𝑎3 ) = 3√2 𝜋𝑎3 . Therefore

1
𝜋𝑎3
3√2 𝜋
Packing ratio = 3
=
𝑎 3√2

BCC
A BCC unit cell has a total of 2: all the corners combined contribute 1 atom to the cell, while the
body-centered atom contributes another.
The volume of the spherical atom is given as
3
4 4 √3 4 3√3 3 √3 3
𝑣 = 𝜋𝑟 3 = 𝜋 ( 𝑎) = 𝜋 ( 𝑎 )= 𝜋𝑎 .
3 3 4 3 64 16
Volume occupied by total number of atoms per unit cell
Packing ratio =
Volume of the unit cell

Since there are 2 atoms per BCC unit cell, the total volume they contribute to the cell is 2𝑣 =
√3
𝜋𝑎3 . Therefore,
8

√3 3
𝜋𝑎 √3
Packing ratio = 8 3 = 𝜋.
𝑎 8

10) Diamond unit cell compared to FCC unit cell or Hexagonal cell8:

A diamond unit cell has 8 atoms per cell. The radius of an atom in a diamond unit cell is 𝑟 =
√3
𝑎.
8

8
For the Hexagonal unit cell, see Material Science by Rajendran V, p. 2.18.
The volume of the spherical atom is given as
3
4 4 √3 4 3√3 3 √3
𝑣 = 𝜋𝑟 3 = 𝜋 ( 𝑎) = 𝜋 ( 𝑎 )= 𝜋𝑎3 ,
3 3 8 3 512 128
√3 3
8𝑣 = 𝜋𝑎 .
16
√3 3
𝜋𝑎 √3
Packing factor9 for diamond = 16 3 = 𝜋.
𝑎 16
Now

√3
PFDiamond 16 𝜋 √3 3√2 3√6
= 𝜋 = 𝜋× = ≈ 0.459 or 0.46,
PFFCC 16 𝜋 16
3√2
PFDiamond = 0.46PFFCC = 46% of PFFCC .

11) Angle between Tetrahedral Bonds of Diamond:

The angle between the tetrahedral bonds of diamond are the same as the larger angle between two
body diagonals of a cube (body diagonals of a cube pass through its center). So we want to find
the angle θ as shown in the figure above between A and B. Let the sides of the cube be of length
1. Now
𝐀 = (1, −1,1)

9
Packing factor, packing ratio, or packing density are terms for the same quantity.
and
𝐁 = (−1,1,1).
So
𝐀 ∙ 𝐁 = (1, −1,1) ∙ (−1,1,1)
= −1 − 1 + 1
= −1.
Magnitudes of the two vectors are

𝐴 = √12 + (−1)2 + 12 = √3 = 𝐵.
Also
𝐀 ∙ 𝐁 = 𝐴𝐵 cos 𝜃 ;
𝐀∙𝐁
cos 𝜃 = ;
𝐴𝐵
𝐀∙𝐁
𝜃 = arccos ( );
𝐴𝐵
1 1
𝜃 = arccos (− ) = arccos (− ) ;
√3√3 3
𝜃 = 109.47°.

Note: The components of a vector which forms a body diagonal of a cube have their lengths equal
to the dimensions of the cube.

12) Closest packing of atoms:

There are two closest packing configurations:
a) Hexagonal Closest Packing (HCP)
b) Cubic Closest Packing (CCP)
HCP:
It consists of repeating layers of hexagonally arranged atoms. A second layer (B) is placed on the
first layer (A) so that each atom in the second layer is in contact with three atoms in the first layer.
The third layer in HCP is directly above the first layer and is also type A. The stacking consists of
alternating type A and type B closed-pack layers (ABABAB…).
CCP:
It also consists of repeating layers of hexagonally arranged atoms. Also the second layer (B) is
placed atop the first layer (A) so that each atom in the second layer is in contact with three atoms
in the first layer. However, the third layer (C) is directly above neither of the layers A or B. So the
stacking consists of alternating type A, type B, and type C closed-pack layers (ABCABCABC…).
13) Prove that the closed packing of atoms in the HCP structure demands an axial ratio
𝑐/𝑎 = √(8/3).

HCP unit cell

1/3 of an HCP unit cell

Axial ratio is the ratio 𝑐/𝑎. Consider the tetrahedron JKLM in the figure above, reconstructed below:
Since M is midway between the top and bottom faces of the cell, we have

MH = HM = c/2

Atoms at J, K, and M all touch one another (so not shown in the figures above) so

JK = JM = 2𝑟 = 𝑎.

Above, r (= 𝑎/2) is the atomic radius. From triangle JHM, we have

(JM)2 = (JH)2 + (HM)2
𝑐 2
𝑎2 = (JH)2 + ( )
2
To determine JH, consider the triangle JKL, which is equilateral.

Figure 1 Note that the angle is 30 degrees because each angle in this triangle is 60 degrees and JH is a bisector of it.

a/2
cos 30 =
JH
√3 a/2
= ;
2 JH
2 𝑎 𝑎
JH = ∙ = .
√3 2 √3
Put this in the last boxed equation:
𝑎 2 𝑐 2
𝑎2 = ( ) + ( )
√3 2
2 2
𝑎 𝑐
𝑎2 = + ;
3 4
2 2
𝑎 𝑐
𝑎2 − = ;
3 4
1 𝑐2
𝑎2 (1 − ) = ;
3 4
2
𝑐 2 8
2
= 4( ) = ;
𝑎 3 3
𝑐 8
= √ ≈ 1.63.
𝑎 3

14) Packing factor of closed-pack hexagonal structure:

Total number of atoms in a closed pack hexagonal cell is 6. The volume of the spherical atom is
given as
4 3 4 𝑎 3 4 𝑎3 1
𝑣 = 𝜋𝑟 = 𝜋 ( ) = 𝜋 ( ) = 𝜋𝑎3 ;
3 3 2 3 8 6
3
6𝑣 = 𝜋𝑎 .

Volume of the cell is area of the base times height, which is c. The base consists of 6 triangles so
1
area of base = 6 × ( 𝑎L)
2
= 3𝑎(𝑎 sin 60°)
√3
= 3𝑎2
2
3√3 2
= 𝑎 .
2
So the volume is

3√3 2
𝑉= 𝑎 𝑐.
2
And the packing factor will be

3√3 2 2 2𝜋 𝑎 2𝜋 1
PFHCP = 𝜋𝑎3 ÷ 𝑎 𝑐 = 𝜋𝑎3 × = ( )= ( ),
2 3√3𝑎2 𝑐 3√3 𝑐 3√3 𝑐
𝑎

2𝜋 3 2𝜋 𝜋
PFHCP = (√ ) = = = 0.74.
3√3 8 3(2√2) 3√2

15) What is meant by symmetry operation? Comment on the statement: “a crystal

lattice breaks the continuous translation symmetry of free space.”
Symmetry Operation:
A symmetry operation is an operation that can be performed either physically or imaginatively
that results in no change in the appearance of an object. In crystals, the symmetry is internal,
that is it is an ordered arrangement of atoms and molecules on the crystal lattice.
A crystal lattice breaks the continuous translation symmetry of free space:
Crystals exhibit special symmetries when they slide in certain directions or rotate through
certain angles. These symmetries can be compared to those encountered when walking in a
straight line through empty space. Regardless of the direction or distance of each step, the view
remains the same, as there are no landmarks by which to measure one’s progress. This is called
continuous translational symmetry because all positions look identical. Consider a two
dimensional crystal in the figure below. Such a crystal breaks the continuous translational
symmetry of free space; starting at one molecule there is a finite distance to travel before
reaching the next. Some translational symmetry is present, however, because, by moving the
proper distance in the proper direction, one is guaranteed to locate additional (more) molecules
on repeated excursions.
Rotational symmetries can be considered in a similar fashion. From one point in empty space,
the view is the same regardless of which direction one looks. There is continuous rotational
symmetry- namely, the symmetry of a perfect sphere. In the crystal shown in the figure below,
the distance to the nearest molecule from any given molecule depends on the direction taken.
A crystal possesses a certain discrete set of angles of rotation that leave the appearance
unchanged. The continuous rotational symmetry of empty space is broken.
𝟐𝝅
16) Show that, in crystallography, a rotation about an axis and through an angle 𝜽 = 𝟓
cannot be a crystal symmetry operation. In other words this rotation is not compatible
with the translational symmetry of the crystal lattice.
Axis of Rotational Symmetry:
An axis of rotational symmetry is an axis such that the lattice takes up an identical position on
rotation through a suitable angle about it. The angle of rotation must be of the form 2π/n. Here
n is an integer and such an axis is called an n-fold axis. A crystal can have only one, two, three,
four, and six-fold axes of symmetry.
Proof:
Pentagons of equal sides cannot fill up the plane of a paper without leaving some empty space.
Similarly, pentagonal prisms, when arranged in three dimensions, also leave empty spaces and
therefore five-fold symmetry cannot exist in crystals.
Consider a grid line with lattice points (gray circles) separated by a translation vector t. If we
rotate the line around a symmetry axis of order n (perpendicular to the drawing), +𝑎(=
360°/𝑛), we will get the line with blue circles. And similarly, applying the reverse rotation,
−𝛼 we will get the line of red circles.
If the α-rotation is a symmetry operation, the blue circles will correspond to lattice points10,
and similarly will occur with the red circles. If this is so, any distance between blue and red

10
After the rotation of the grid line, the points on it will coincide with points on the grid line which is reached by
this α rotation.
circles must be equal to an integral multiple of the lattice translation t11: mt, m’t, etc., where m
is an integer. Consider the isosceles triangle with blue, red and the gray circles as its corners,
we can write
1
𝑚𝑡 𝑚
cos 𝛼 = 2 = .
𝑡 2
Since −1 ≤ cos 𝛼 ≤ +1, we must have −2 ≤ 𝑚 ≤ +2. Since m is an integer, so the allowed
values of m are 𝑚 = −2, −1,0,1,2. Consider the table below for these values of m:
m -2 -1 0 1 2
cos α -1 -1/2 0 1/2 1
α 180 120 90 60 0
n 360/2; 2 360/3; 3 360/4; 4 360/6; 6 1

From the table we can see that five-fold symmetry is absent.

11
Because blue and red circles are lattice points.
Important Links:
1) https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook
_Maps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Physical_Propert
ies_of_Matter/States_of_Matter/Properties_of_Solids/Crystal_Lattice/Closest_Pack_Stru
ctures (Note on closed-packed arrangement)