Point Group Symmetry and Deformation Induced Symmetry Breaking of Superlattice Materials

Abstract: The point group symmetry of materials is closely related to their physical properties and quite important for material modeling. However, superlattice materials have more complex symmetry conditions than crystals due to their multilevel structural feature. Thus, a theoretical framework is proposed to characterize and determine the point group symmetry of nonmagnetic superlattice materials systematically. A variety of examples are presented to show the symmetry features of superlattice materials in different dimensions and scales. In addition, the deformation induced symmetry breaking phenomenon is also studied for superlattice materials, which has potential application in tuning physical properties by imposing a strain field.