Crystal twinning occurs when two separate crystals share some of the same crystal lattice points in a symmetrical manner. The result is an intergrowth of two separate crystals in a variety of specific configurations. A twin boundary or composition surface separates the two crystals. Crystallographers classify twinned crystals by a number of twin laws. These twin laws are specific to the crystal system. The type of twinning can be a diagnostic tool in mineral identification.
Twinning can often be a problem in X-ray crystallography, as a twinned crystal does not produce a simple diffraction pattern.
Read more about Crystal Twinning: Types of Twinning, Modes of Formation, Twin Boundaries, Deformation Twins
Famous quotes containing the word crystal:
“The crystal sphere of thought is as concentrical as the geological structure of the globe. As our soils and rocks lie in strata, concentric strata, so do all men’s thinkings run laterally, never vertically.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)