Symmetry analysis in the investigation of clusters in complex metallic alloys

Abstract

In the complex metallic alloys (CMA) it is often found that some parts of the unit cell form well-defined nanoscale building blocks, called clusters, which are characterized by a specific local symmetry and separated from the ‘matrix’ crystal lattice by a partially disordered interface zone. The interior of the cluster is usually a close packed structure, the structure of which is not always exactly known, because of the partial disorder in the outer coordination shells. In many CMA's the clusters form a high-symmetry superlattice structure, what usually leads to a giant cubic or pseudo cubic unit cell. The present paper shows a possibility to analyze the changes in local symmetry of the clusters (objects decorating the superlattice nodes) during transformations of the global crystal symmetry. The symmetry analysis method applied to tensor objects, attributed to the clusters, provides information about the symmetry relations between the objects located in different nodes as well as the local symmetry of individual objects (local principal axes, local anisotropy etc.)