On the structure of diamond crystals according to Bragg

Abstract

This note is motivated primarily by the desire to present Bragg's final conclusion in a more visual form; and then, in view of the complete originality of this conclusion and the rather sharp discrepancy with our previous ideas about the structure of particles, there was a desire to decide whether it was possible to reconcile it with them. Thinking about the arrangement of atoms, we can easily understand that it is of two kinds. Some atoms occupy the positions of the centers of rhombic dodecahedrons, others occupy the positions of such four trigonal vertices of the dodecahedron that together they belong to the tetrahedron. It is this arrangement that determines the hexakis-tetrahedral type of symmetry, and although the location of the centers of some particles corresponds to the dodecahedral structure, the situation is changed by the arrangement of other atoms.