Question

During the CVD process, Copper and Nickel which are both Face Centered Cubic crystalline structures are used as substrates for shaping hexagonal atomic structures such as graphene and hexagonal Boron-Nitride. Why is it that these form hexagonal atomic structures when they themselves aren't hexagonal?

Answer 1

Copper and Nickel form hexagonal atomic structures despite being FCC due to the arrangement of atoms within the unit cell.

Step-by-step explanation:

During the CVD process, Copper and Nickel, which are both Face Centered Cubic (FCC) crystalline structures, are used as substrates for shaping hexagonal atomic structures such as graphene and hexagonal Boron-Nitride.

Even though Copper and Nickel are not hexagonal, they can form hexagonal atomic structures because of the arrangement of their atoms within the FCC unit cell.

An FCC unit cell contains four atoms: one-eighth of an atom at each of the eight corners and one-half of an atom on each of the six faces. These atoms are arranged in such a way that they can create a hexagonal pattern when additional atoms are added to fill the interstitial spaces between them, resulting in the formation of hexagonal atomic structures.