The structure of a cubic close-packed metal consists of close-packed planes of atoms in an ..ABC.. orientation. The figure shows the first layer in a CCP structure with an orientation arbitrarily called the A orientation.

Each atom in the structure has the same environment. Thus a lattice point can be placed at the center of each atom. A cubic unit cell can be selected as shown on the next page.

Click the links on the right to view various layers in a CCP structure.