kristályorientációelemzés

Crystal orientation refers to the spatial arrangement of a crystal's lattice directions relative to a reference coordinate system. In crystallography, orientation describes how the crystallographic axes of a crystal lattice align with the external geometry of a sample. The term kristályorientáció is used in Hungarian to denote this concept. Orientation is a central factor in determining anisotropic properties of materials, since many properties such as stiffness, strength, conductivity, and diffusion depend on crystallographic direction.

In single crystals, orientation establishes the directionality of properties. In polycrystalline materials, the orientations of many grains form a texture or preferred orientation, which can strongly influence macroscopic behavior, processing responses, and performance in applications such as metal forming and coating.

Orientation is commonly described by Euler angles or by Miller indices for crystal planes. Experimental techniques to determine orientation include X-ray diffraction (XRD) for average texture, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) in scanning electron microscopes to map local orientations, transmission electron microscopy, and neutron diffraction. Pole figures and orientation distribution functions summarize the orientation information.

Controlling orientation is important in manufacturing. Thermo-mechanical processing, epitaxial growth, and directional solidification are used to create textures that enhance strength, toughness, or electronic properties. For example, rolling an aluminum alloy introduces a strong <111> or <100> texture, while silicon wafers are grown as single crystals with well-defined orientations to optimize electronic properties.

Related concepts include misorientation, grain boundary character, and orientation spread. The study of crystal orientation integrates crystallography, materials science, and solid-state physics, informing fields from metallurgy to semiconductor engineering.