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In crystallography, a Frenkel defect is a type of point defect in crystalline solids, named after its discoverer Yakov Frenkel. The defect forms when an atom or smaller ion (usually cation) leaves its place in the structure, creating a Vacancy defect and becomes an interstitial by lodging in a nearby location. In elemental systems, they are primarily generated during particle irradiation, as their formation enthalpy is typically much higher than for other point defects, such as vacancies, and thus their equilibrium concentration according to the Boltzmann distribution is below the detection limit. In ionic crystals, which usually possess low coordination number or a considerable disparity in the sizes of the ions, this defect can be generated also spontaneously, where the smaller ion (usually the cation) is dislocated. Similar to a Schottky defect the Frenkel defect is a Stoichiometry defect (does not change the over all stoichiometry of the compound). In ionic compounds, the vacancy and interstitial defect involved are oppositely charged and one might expect them to be located close to each other due to electrostatic attraction. However, this is not likely the case in real material due to smaller entropy of such a coupled defect, or because the two defects might collapse into each other. Also, because such coupled complex defects are stoichiometric, their concentration will be independent of chemical conditions.
Some examples of solids which exhibit Frenkel defects:
For example, consider a structure formed by X n− and M n+ ions. Suppose an M ion leaves the M sublattice, leaving the X sublattice unchanged. The number of interstitials formed will equal the number of vacancies formed.
One form of a Frenkel defect reaction in MgO with the oxide anion leaving the structure and going into the interstitial site written in Kröger–Vink notation:
This can be illustrated with the example of the sodium chloride crystal structure. The diagrams below are schematic two-dimensional representations.
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