The Crystal Imperfection; Lattice Defects

Idealized presentations of atomic arrangements exhibiting long-range translation symmetry, i.e. idealized crystal structures, have been presented and discussed in the previous chapter. Very many properties of crystalline materials cannot be understood merely on the basis of such perfect atomic arrangements. As a matter of fact, defects in the atomic arrangement, as compared to the idealized ordering, strongly determine material properties as mechanical strength, diffusion, electrical conductivity and so on.