CrystalMaker makes it very easy for users to create oriented surfaces - and there's a wide range of tools available for doing this. In the following example, we'll use the Lattice Plane tool to act as a guillotine, to slice away atoms above and below the plane.

Once you've created your surface you may wish to place one or more molecules onto it - perhaps to investigate docking. Alternatively, you might wish to combine this surface with another surface or slab - perhaps to investigate twin domains, or grain boundaries. The images below show a molecule on a crystal surface (left), and an oriented domain boundary (right).

Organic Molecule on Silicon Surface		Domain Boundary in Silicon

Note that placing another structure/orientation into an existing structure isn't consistent with the underlying, crystallographic symmetry... The way around this is to relax the crystallographic basis, by switching from "Crystal" to "Molecule" mode, as described in step 11 below.

Instructions for creating an oriented surface:

1. Load your crystal structure into CrystalMaker and ensure that your bonding and other display styles are set up correctly. It's a good idea at this stage to save a backup of your structure, in case you need to return to it later.

2. Use the Transform > Set Range command to generate as many unit cells as you need.

3. Choose the Transform > Lattice Plane > Show command.

4. In the sheet/dialog that appears, enter the orientation for your surface, set the Show lattice plane option, and click the OK button to continue.

   Your structure will now be replotted with a translucent lattice plane slicing through the centre.

5. Choose the Lattice Plane tool from the Tools palette (if the Tools Palette isn't visible, you can display it via the Window > Palettes > Tools command).

6. Using the Lattice Plane tool, click and drag the translucent plane so that it is at the correct position for making a slice. Note that as you drag with the mouse the plane moves along the direction of its plane normal. You may wish to rotate the crystal to get a better view.

   (Tip: you can quickly rotate the crystal without changing tools: hold down the space bar and you can then rotate the crystal with the mouse; releasing the spacebar brings you back into Lattice Plane mode.)

7. When you're ready to slice your mode, choose the following command: Transform > Slice Model.

8. A sheet/dialog appears, prompting you to hide atoms above or below the lattice plane. Click the Hide Others or Hide Selection buttons.

   Your selected atoms (or unselected ones) are now hidden.

9. Hide the lattice plane display by choosing: Transform > Lattice Plane > Edit, then unchecking the Show lattice plane checkbox, and clicking the OK button.

10. To define an oriented block of material, use the Lattice Plane tool to move the lattice plane slightly and then repeat steps 5-7.

11. To place a molecule onto your surface, you will need to have the molecule saved as a CrystalMaker binary "molecule" file (.cmmf).

    Next, you'll need to discard your host (surface) structure's crystallographic symmetry, via the Transform > Crystal to Molecule command.

    You can then choose the File > Place Molecule command to specify which molecule should be placed into the current structure.

    Finally, choose the Arrow tool from the Tools palette, and drag your (selected) placed molecule to where you'd like it positioned. (You can also rotate this independently of the rest of the structure, using the Tools palette's Rotate Selection mode, which is detailed further in the Online Help and full User's Guide.

Another method of creating a surface is to orientate your crystal manually, e.g., via the Set View Direction command, then flip it through 90° and then use one of the Selection tools to isolate a block of atoms.

Creating a Grain Boundary:

Once you have your surface or slab, you might want to convert it to a self-contained "molecule" (Transform > Crystal to Molecule). You can then "place" this structure inside another "molecule", (File > Place Molecule) so as to create a domain or grain boundary - or even repeat the operation to create a composite material.