polycrystalline adj : composed of aggregates of crystals; "polycrystalline metals"

English

Adjective

1. Composed of an aggregate of very small crystals in random orientations

Derived terms

• polycrystalline silicon

Related terms

• polycrystal

A polycrystal is a material that is made of many smaller crystallites with varying orientation. The variation in direction can be random (called random texture) or directed, possibly due to growth and processing conditions. Fiber texture is an example of the latter.

Cf. monocrystal.

Almost all common metals, and many ceramics are polycrystalline. The crystallites are often referred to as grains. However, grains can themselves be polycrystalline.

Polycrystalline is a structure of a solid, such as brass, that when cooled form liquid crystals formed from different points within it. This creates many crystals within a structure, where these crystals meet is known as a grain boundary.

References

See also

• crystallography
• grain boundary