International
Tables for Crystallography Volume D Physical properties of crystals Edited by A. Authier © International Union of Crystallography 2013 |
International Tables for Crystallography (2013). Vol. D. ch. 1.11, pp. 270-272
Section 1.11.2. Symmetry restrictions on local tensorial susceptibility and forbidden reflectionsaA. V. Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography, Leninsky pr. 59, Moscow 119333, Russia,bSteinmann Institut der Universität Bonn, Poppelsdorfer Schloss, Bonn, D-53115, Germany, and cFaculty of Physics, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, Moscow 119991, Russia |
Several different approaches can be used to determine the local susceptibility with appropriate symmetry. For illustration, we start with the simple but very important case of a symmetric tensor of rank 2 defined in the Cartesian system, (in this case, we do not distinguish covariant and contravariant components, see Chapter 1.1
). From the physical point of view, such tensors appear in the dipole–dipole approximation (see Section 1.11.4
).
The most general expression for the tensor of susceptibility is exclusively restricted by the crystal symmetry, i.e. must be invariant against all the symmetry operations
of the given space group
:
where
is the matrix of the point operation (rotation or mirror reflection),
, and
is the associated vector of translation. The index
indicates a transposed matrix, and summation over repeated indices is implied hereafter. To meet the above demand, it is obviously sufficient for
to be invariant against all generators of the group
.
There is a simple direct method for obtaining obeying equation (1.11.2.1)
: we can take an arbitrary second-rank tensor
and average it over all the symmetry operations
:
where
is the number of elements
in the group
. A small problem is that
is infinite for any space group, but this can be easily overcome if we take
as periodic and obeying the translation symmetry of the given Bravais lattice. Then the number
of the remaining symmetry operations becomes finite (an example of this approach is given in Section 1.11.2.3
).
In spite of its simplicity, equation (1.11.2.1) provides non-trivial restrictions on the tensorial structure factors of Bragg reflections. The sets of allowed reflections, listed in International Tables for Crystallography Volume A
(Hahn, 2005
) for all space groups and for all types of atom sites, are based on scalar X-ray susceptibility. In this case, reflections can be forbidden (i.e. they have zero intensity) owing to glide-plane and/or screw-axis symmetry operations. This is because the scalar atomic factors remain unchanged upon mirror reflection or rotation, so that the contributions from symmetry-related atoms to the structure factors can cancel each other. In contrast, atomic tensors are sensitive to both mirror reflections and rotations, and, in general, the tensor atomic factors of symmetry-related atoms have different orientations in space. As a result, forbidden reflections can in fact be excited just due to the anisotropy of susceptibility, so that the selection rules for possible reflections change.
It is easy to see how the most general tensor form of the structure factors can be deduced from equation (1.11.2.1). The structure factor of a reflection with reciprocal-lattice vector
is proportional to the Fourier harmonics of the susceptibility. The corresponding relations (Authier, 2005
, 2008
) simply have to be rewritten in tensorial form:
where
is the classical electron radius,
is the X-ray wavelength and
is the volume of the unit cell.
Considering first the glide-plane forbidden reflections, there may, for instance, exist a glide plane perpendicular to the
axis, i.e. any point
is transformed by this plane into
. The corresponding matrix of this symmetry operation changes the sign of
,
and the translation vector into
. Substituting (1.11.2.4)
into (1.11.2.1)
and exchanging the integration variables in (1.11.2.3)
, one obtains for the structure factors of reflections
If
is scalar, i.e.
, then
for odd
, hence
vanishes. This is the well known conventional extinction rule for a
glide plane, see International Tables for Crystallography Volume A
(Hahn, 2005
). If, however,
is a tensor, the mirror reflection
changes the signs of the
and
tensor components [as is also obvious from equation (1.11.2.5)
]. As a result, the
and
components should not vanish for
and the tensor structure factor becomes
In general, the elements
and
are complex, and it should be emphasized from the symmetry point of view that they are different and arbitrary for different
and
. However, from the physical point of view, they can be readily expressed in terms of tensor atomic factors, where only those chemical elements are relevant whose absorption-edge energies are close to the incident radiation energy (see below).
It is also easy to see that for the non-forbidden (= allowed) reflections , the non-zero tensor elements are just those which vanish for the forbidden reflections:
Here the result is mainly provided by the diagonal elements
, but there is still an anisotropic part that contributes to the structure factor, as expressed by the off-diagonal element. In principle, the effect on the total intensity as well as the element itself can be assessed by careful measurements using polarized radiation.
For the screw-axis forbidden reflections, the most general form of the tensor structure factor can be found as before (Dmitrienko, 1983; see Table 1.11.2.1
). Again, as in the case of the glide plane, for each forbidden reflection all components of the tensor structure factor are determined by at most two independent complex elements
and
. There may, however, exist further restrictions on these tensor elements if other symmetry operations of the crystal space group are taken into account. For example, although there are
screw axes in space group
,
and reflections
remain forbidden because the lattice is body centred, and this applies not only to the dipole–dipole approximation considered here, but also within any other multipole approximation.
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In Table 1.11.2.1, resulting from the dipole–dipole approximation, some reflections still remain forbidden. For instance, in the case of a
screw axis, there is no anisotropy of susceptibility in the
plane due to the inevitable presence of the threefold rotation axis. For
and
axes, the reflections with
also remain forbidden because only dipole–dipole interaction (of X-rays) is taken into account, whereas it can be shown that, for example, quadrupole interaction permits the excitation of these reflections.
Let us consider in more detail the local tensorial properties of cubic crystals. This case is particularly interesting because for cubic symmetry the second-rank tensor is isotropic, so that a global anisotropy is absent (but it exists for tensors of rank 4 and higher). Local anisotropy is of importance for some physical parameters, and it can be described by tensors depending periodically on the three space coordinates. This does not only concern X-ray susceptibility, but can also, for instance, result from describing orientation distributions in chiral liquid crystals (Belyakov & Dmitrienko, 1985) or atomic displacements (Chapter 1.9
of this volume) and electric field gradients (Chapter 2.2
of this volume) in conventional crystals.
The symmetry element common to all cubic space groups is the threefold axis along the cube diagonal. The matrix of the symmetry operation is
This transformation results in the circular permutation
, and from equation (1.11.2.1)
it is easy to see that invariance of
demands the general form
where
and
are arbitrary functions with the periodicity of the corresponding Bravais lattice:
for primitive lattices (
being arbitrary integers) plus in addition
=
for body-centered lattices or
=
=
=
for face-centered lattices.
Depending on the space group, other symmetry elements can enforce further restrictions on and
:
:
:
: (1.11.2.10)
and
: (1.11.2.10)
and
: (1.11.2.10)
and
: (1.11.2.11)
and (1.11.2.12)
.
: (1.11.2.10)
and
: (1.11.2.11)
and
: (1.11.2.11)
and
: (1.11.2.10)
and
: (1.11.2.10)
and
: (1.11.2.11)
and
: (1.11.2.10)
, (1.11.2.12)
and (1.11.2.19)
.
: (1.11.2.10)
, (1.11.2.13)
and (1.11.2.15)
.
: (1.11.2.10)
, (1.11.2.12)
and (1.11.2.20)
.
: (1.11.2.10)
, (1.11.2.13)
and (1.11.2.19)
.
: (1.11.2.10)
, (1.11.2.14)
and (1.11.2.19)
.
: (1.11.2.10)
, (1.11.2.13)
and (1.11.2.20)
.
: (1.11.2.11)
, (1.11.2.12)
and (1.11.2.21)
.
For all , the sets of coordinates are chosen here as in International Tables for Crystallography Volume A
(Hahn, 2005
); the first one being adopted if Volume A offers two alternative origins. The expressions (1.11.2.10)
or (1.11.2.11)
appear for all space groups because all of them are supergroups of
or
.
The tensor structure factors of forbidden reflections can be further restricted by the cubic symmetry, see Table 1.11.2.2. For the glide plane
, the tensor structure factor of
reflections is given by (1.11.2.6)
, whereas for the diagonal glide plane
, it is given by
and additional restrictions on
and
can become effective for
or
. For forbidden reflections of the
type, the tensor structure factor is either
or
see Table 1.11.2.2
.
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