Article
Article
Single crystal
Article By:
Turnbull, David Department of Applied Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.624900
A certain piece of a crystalline solid material, throughout which extends, without interruption, a pattern of regularly stacked atoms or molecules that may be obtained by a three-dimensional repetition of a certain pattern unit called a unit cell. Such a periodic, three-dimensional pattern extends throughout each of the crystals of any crystalline material. A single crystal is formed by the growth of a crystal nucleus without secondary nucleation or impingement on other crystals. See also: Crystal structure; Crystallography
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