In order to form isomorphous crystals two substances must have the same chemical formulation, they must contain atoms which have corresponding chemical properties and the sizes of corresponding atoms should be similar. These requirements ensure that the forces within and between molecules and ions are approximately similar and result in crystals that have the same internal structure.
Two crystals are said to be isomorphous if (a) both have the same space group and unit-cell dimensions and (b) the types and the positions of atoms in both are the same except for a replacement of one or more atoms in one structure with different types of atoms in the other (isomorphous replacement), such as heavy atoms, or the presence of one or more additional atoms in one of them (isomorphous addition). Isomorphous crystals can form solid solutions.