Open AccessStructural building principles of complex face‐centered cubic intermetallics
Author(s) -
Dshemuchadse Julia,
Jung Daniel Y.,
Steurer Walter
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
acta crystallographica section b
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1600-5740
pISSN - 0108-7681
DOI - 10.1107/s0108768111025390
Subject(s) - intermetallic , crystallography , bar (unit) , crystal structure , cubic crystal system , materials science , cluster (spacecraft) , group (periodic table) , honeycomb , symmetry (geometry) , crystal (programming language) , space group , pentagon , diamond , type (biology) , unit (ring theory) , x ray crystallography , chemistry , geometry , physics , diffraction , optics , computer science , metallurgy , mathematics , alloy , ecology , composite material , biology , programming language , mathematics education , organic chemistry , meteorology
Fundamental structural building principles are discussed for all 56 known intermetallic phases with approximately 400 or more atoms per unit cell and space‐group symmetry , , , or . Despite fundamental differences in chemical composition, bonding and electronic band structure, their complex crystal structures show striking similarities indicating common building principles. We demonstrate that the structure‐determining elements are flat and puckered atomic {110} layers stacked with periodicities 2 p . The atoms on this set of layers, which intersect each other, form pentagon face‐sharing endohedral fullerene‐like clusters arranged in a face‐centered cubic packing (f.c.c.). Due to their topological layer structure, all these crystal structures can be described as ( p × p × p ) = p 3 ‐fold superstructures of a common basic structure of the double‐diamond type. The parameter p , with p = 3, 4, 7 or 11, is determined by the number of layers per repeat unit and the type of cluster packing, which in turn are controlled by chemical composition.