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:
“Behind every individual closes organization; before him opens liberty,—the Better, the Best. The first and worse races are dead. The second and imperfect races are dying out, or remain for the maturing of the higher. In the latest race, in man, every generosity, every new perception, the love and praise he extorts from his fellows, are certificates of advance out of fate into freedom.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“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)