Defects in Solids
Chapter One
Point Defects
What is a point defect?
What is the "effective charge" on a defect?
What is an antisite defect?
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Defects play an important part in both the chemical and physical behavior of solids,
and much of modern science and technology centers upon the exploitation or suppression
of the properties that defects confer upon a solid. Batteries, fuel cells, displays,
data storage, and computer memories all directly utilize, or have evolved
from, an understanding and manipulation of defects in inorganic materials. This technology
has been developed over some 80-100 years and started with the simplest
concepts. However, as the effect of defects upon the properties of the solid gradually
became appreciated, the concept of a defect has undergone considerable evolution.
The simplest notion of a defect in a solid was the idea of a mistake such as a
missing atom or an impurity in place of a normal atom. These structurally simple
defects are called point defects. Not long after the recognition of point defects, the
concept of mor ... read full excerpt from Defects in Solids ebook
