Planar Defects

Stacking Faults and Twin Boundaries
A disruption of the long-range stacking sequence can produce two other common types of crystal defects: 1) a stacking fault and 2) a twin region. A change in the stacking sequence over a few atomic spacings produces a stacking fault whereas a change over many atomic spacings produces a twin region.

A stacking fault is a one or two layer interruption in the stacking sequence of atom planes. Stacking faults occur in a number of crystal structures, but it is easiest to see how they occur in close packed structures. For example, it is know from a previous discussion that face centered cubic (fcc) structures differ from hexagonal close packed (hcp) structures only in their stacking order. For hcp and fcc structures, the first two layers arrange themselves identically, and are said to have an AB arrangement. If the third layer is placed so that its atoms are directly above those of the first (A) layer, the stacking will be ABA. This is the hcp structure, and it continues ABABABAB. However it is possible for the third layer atoms to arrange themselves so that they are in line with the first layer to produce an ABC arrangement which is that of the fcc structure. So, if the hcp structure is going along as ABABAB and suddenly switches to ABABABCABAB, there is a stacking fault present.

Alternately, in the fcc arrangement the pattern is ABCABCABC. A stacking fault in an fcc structure would appear as one of the C planes missing. In other words the pattern would become ABCABCAB_ABCABC.

If a stacking fault does not corrects itself immediately but continues over some number of atomic spacings, it will produce a second stacking fault that is the twin of the first one. For example if the stacking pattern is ABABABAB but switches to ABCABCABC for a period of time before switching back to ABABABAB, a pair of twin stacking faults is produced. The red region in the stacking sequence that goes ABCABCACBACBABCABC is the twin plane and the twin boundaries are the A planes on each end of the highlighted region.

Grain Boundaries in Polycrystals
Another type of planer defect is the grain boundary. Up to this point, the discussion has focused on defects of single crystals. However, solids generally consist of a number of crystallites or grains. Grains can range in size from nanometers to millimeters across and their orientations are usually rotated with respect to neighboring grains. Where one grain stops and another begins is know as a grain boundary. Grain boundaries limit the lengths and motions of dislocations. Therefore, having smaller grains (more grain boundary surface area) strengthens a material. The size of the grains can be controlled by the cooling rate when the material cast or heat treated. Generally, rapid cooling produces smaller grains whereas slow cooling result in larger grains. For more information, refer to the discussion on solidification.