Imperfect Crystals
Although the perfect lattice is an extremely useful model, real crystals always exhibit imperfections, which can have profound effects on the structure and properties of the material. André Guinier proposed a widely employed distinction between imperfections that preserve the long-range order of the crystal (disorder of the first kind) and those that destroy it (disorder of the second kind).
Read more about this topic: Structure Factor
Famous quotes containing the words imperfect and/or crystals:
“I ... observed the great beauty of American government to be, that the simple machines of representation, carried through all its parts, gives facility for a being moulded at will to fit with the knowledge of the age; that thus, although it should be imperfect in any or all of its parts, it bears within it a perfect principle the principle of improvement.
”
—Frances Wright (1795–1852)
“It is clear that everybody interested in science must be interested in world 3 objects. A physical scientist, to start with, may be interested mainly in world 1 objects—say crystals and X-rays. But very soon he must realize how much depends on our interpretation of the facts, that is, on our theories, and so on world 3 objects. Similarly, a historian of science, or a philosopher interested in science must be largely a student of world 3 objects.”
—Karl Popper (1902–1994)