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THE DIAMOND STRUCTURE |
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This structure shows one unit cell of the diamond structure. Diamond
is composed of pure carbon. In essence, the diamond structure can be viewed
as a face-centered cubic array with half of the tetrahedral holes filled.
It is important to note, however, that diamond is an example of a network
covalent compound. In the diamond structure the atoms are connected by
covaelent bonds, with each carbon atom bonded to four others in a tetrahedral
geometry. In essence, a sample of diamond is one large molecule. |
| This illustration shows the previous model rotated through an angle of 45 degrees. The open space in the middle is a vacant octahedral hole. |  |
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This illustration emphasizes the tetrahedal nature of the molecule rather than the covalent bonds in the first model. Each of the atoms is surrounded by four other and is located inside a tetrahedral hole. Recall that half of the tetrahedral holes are filled in the diamond sructure. |
| This illustration shows the previous model, rotate through an angle of 45 degrees. |  |
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This imodel shows an array of 3 x 3 x 3 unit cells of the diamond structure. |
| This illsutration shows the previous model, rotated through an angle of 45 degrees. From this perspective, the vacant octahedral holes in the structure are more apparent. |  |
Additional Links
Crystal Structure Home Page
Introduction to Close-Packed Structures
The Hexagonal Close-Packed Structure
The Face-Centered Cubic Lattice
The Halite Structure
The Fluorite Structure
The Zinc Blende Structure
The Diamond Structure