Miller Indices (h k l)
The orientation of a crystal plane is determined by three points in the plane, provided
they are not collinear. If each point lay on a different crystal axis, the plane could be specified
by giving the coordinates of the points in terms of the lattice constants a, b, c. A notation
conventionally used to describe lattice points (sites), directions and planes is known as Miller
Indices.
A crystal lattice may be considered as an assembly of equidistant parallel planes passing
through the lattice points and are called lattice planes. In order to specify the orientation one
employs the so called Miller indices.
Miller indices of a plane, indicated by h k l, are given by the reciprocal of the intercepts
of the plane on the three axes.
The following treatment of the procedure used to assign the Miller Indices is a
simplified one (it may be best if you simply regard it as a "recipe") and only a cubic crystal
system (one having a cubic unit cell with dimensions a x a x a) will be considered.
The procedure is most easily illustrated using an example, so we will first consider the
following surface/plane:
Step 1: Identify the intercepts on the x- , y- and z- axes.
In this case the intercept on the x-axis is at x = a ( at the point (a,0,0) ), but the surface
is parallel to the y- and z-axes - strictly therefore there is no intercept on these two axes but we
shall consider the intercept to be at infinity ( ∞ ) for the special case where the plane is parallel
to an axis. The intercepts on the x- , y- and z-axes are thus
Intercepts: a,∞,∞
Step 2: Specify the intercepts in fractional co-ordinates
Co-ordinates are converted to fractional co-ordinates by dividing by the respective cell-
dimension - for example, a point (x,y,z) in a unit cell of dimensions a x b x c has fractional
co-ordinates of ( x/a , y/b , z/c ). In the case of a cubic unit cell each co-ordinate will simply be
divided by the cubic cell constant, a . This gives
Fractional Intercepts: a/a , ∞/a, ∞/a i.e. 1,∞,∞
Step 3 : Take the reciprocals of the fractional intercepts
This final manipulation generates the Miller Indices which (by convention) should then
be specified without being separated by any commas or other symbols. The Miller Indices are
also enclosed within standard brackets ( ) when one is specifying a unique surface such as that
being considered here.
The reciprocals of 1 and ∞ are 1 and 0 respectively, thus yielding
Miller Indices: (100)
So the surface/plane illustrated is the (100) plane of the cubic crystal.
Other Examples
1. The (110) surface
Assignment
Intercepts: a , a , ∞
Fractional intercepts: 1 , 1 , ∞
Miller Indices: (110)
2. The (111) surface
Assignment
Intercepts : a , a , a
Fractional intercepts : 1 , 1 , 1
Miller Indices : (111)
The (100), (110) and (111) surfaces considered above are the so-called low index
surfaces of a cubic crystal system (the "low" refers to the Miller indices being small numbers -
0 or 1 in this case). These surfaces have a particular importance but there an infinite number of
other planes that may be defined using Miller index notation.
3. The (210) surface
Assignment
Intercepts : 1/2 a , a , ∞
Fractional intercepts : 1/2 , 1 , ∞
Miller Indices : (210)
Further notes:
(i) In some instances the Miller indices are best multiplied or divided through by a
common number in order to simplify them by, for example, removing a common factor. This
operation of multiplication simply generates a parallel plane which is at a different distance
from the origin of the particular unit cell being considered.
e.g. (200) is transformed to (100) by dividing through by 2 .
(ii) If any of the intercepts are at negative values on the axes then the negative sign will
carry through into the Miller indices; in such cases the negative sign is actually denoted by
overstriking the relevant number.
e.g. (00 -1) is instead denoted by