Factors determining crystal structure, bonding, binding energy, Madelung constant.
Pauling’s rules, close packing, interstitial sites.
Characteristic crystal structures of technological materials (metals, ceramics).
Polymorphism, polytypism.
Solid solutions, order–disorder phenomena.
Polycrystalline materials, nanocrystalline materials.
Structural defects (point, line, extended, and three-dimensional).
Quasicrystals.
Crystal symmetry principles, symmetry operations and groups, variants, holohedry, symmorphic and non-symmorphic groups, centrosymmetric and non-centrosymmetric crystals.
Transmission electron microscopy: electron–matter interaction, basic operating modes, electron diffraction, imaging of structural defects and interfaces.
Nanoscopy and atomic-resolution electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, spectroscopic techniques, applications.
Surface scanning microscopies: scanning electron microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, and atomic force microscopy; applications.