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Concept
Crystal twinning
Summary
Crystal twinning occurs when two or more adjacent crystals of the same mineral are oriented so that they share some of the same crystal lattice points in a symmetrical manner. The result is an intergrowth of two separate crystals that are tightly bonded to each other. The surface along which the lattice points are shared in twinned crystals is called a composition surface or twin plane.
Crystallographers classify twinned crystals by a number of twin laws. These twin laws are specific to the crystal structure. The type of twinning can be a diagnostic tool in mineral identification.
Deformation twinning, in which twinning develops in a crystal in response to a shear stress, is an important mechanism for permanent shape changes in a crystal.
Twinning is a form of symmetrical intergrowth between two or more adjacent crystals of the same mineral. It differs from the ordinary random intergrowth of mineral grains in a mineral deposit, because the relative orientations of the two crystal segments show a fixed relationship that is characteristic of the mineral structure. The relationship is defined by a symmetry operation called a twin operation.
The twin operation is not one of the normal symmetry operations of the untwinned crystal structure. For example, the twin operation may be reflection across a plane that is not a symmetry plane of the single crystal.
On the microscopic level, the twin boundary is characterized by a set of atomic positions in the crystal lattice that are shared between the two orientations. These shared lattice points give the junction between the crystal segments much greater strength than that between randomly oriented grains, so that the twinned crystals do not easily break apart.
Twin laws are symmetry operations that define the orientation between twin crystal segments. These are as characteristic of the mineral as are its crystal face angles. For example, crystals of staurolite show twinning at angles of almost precisely 90 degrees or 30 degrees. A twin law is not a symmetry operation of the full set of basis points.
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