The Bravais lattice is a term used in crystallography to describe a repetitive arrangement of atoms in a crystal. The word Bravais is pronounced /bʁavɛ/, with the stress on the first syllable. The first two letters, "Br", are pronounced as a voiced bilabial fricative /b/. The following vowel, "a", is pronounced as an open-mid front unrounded vowel /a/. The third syllable, "vais", is pronounced with a voiced labiodental fricative /v/ followed by an open-mid front unrounded vowel /ɛ/ and a voiced alveolar fricative /z/.
A Bravais lattice refers to a specific arrangement of lattice points or nodes in three-dimensional space. It is named after the French physicist Auguste Bravais, who extensively studied crystal structures and their symmetries in the 19th century. The lattice points in a Bravais lattice are defined as the positions in a crystal structure where atoms, ions, or molecules are located.
A Bravais lattice is characterized by its unit cell, which is the smallest repeating unit that can be used to construct the entire lattice. This unit cell is defined by a set of lattice vectors, which determine the size and shape of the unit cell. The lattice vectors also represent the translation operations that, when applied to a lattice point, generate the other lattice points in the lattice.
There are 14 different types of Bravais lattices, classified into seven crystal systems: cubic, tetragonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic, triclinic, rhombohedral, and hexagonal. Each lattice system possesses specific symmetry properties and exhibits distinct geometric configurations.
Bravais lattices are crucial in the field of crystallography and solid-state physics since they provide a fundamental framework for understanding and predicting the physical properties of crystalline materials. By characterizing the Bravais lattice of a crystal, scientists can determine its symmetry operations, lattice parameters, and crystallographic directions and planes, which aid in the analysis of crystal structures and properties.
The term "Bravais lattice" is named after the French mathematician and crystallographer Auguste Bravais (1811-1863). He made significant contributions to the study of crystals and crystallography in the 19th century.
Bravais introduced the concept of lattice, which describes the regular arrangement of points in three-dimensional space to represent the structure of crystals. He classified and studied the different possible arrangements of lattice points that can form the basis for crystal structures. These lattice types were later named "Bravais lattices" in his honor.
Bravais' work paved the way for the understanding of crystal symmetry and the development of the field of crystallography. His contributions are considered fundamental in the study of crystal structures and their properties.