A: Elemental Crystals

SymbolStructure NameSpace Group
(Example)
Representative SubstancesDescription
A1Face-Centered Cubic Structure
Cubic Close Packing
fcc
\(Fm\bar{3}m\)Al, Cu, Ni, Sr, Rh, Pd, Ag, Ce, Tb, Ir, Pt, Au, Pb, ThOne of the close-packed structures. Atoms are positioned at the vertices of the unit cell and at the centers of all faces. It can also be thought of as dense planar layers stacked in the order ABCABC… along the body diagonal direction.
A2Body-Centered Cubic Structure
bcc
\(Im\bar{3}m\)Na, K, V, Cr, Fe, Rb, Nb, Mo, Cs, Ba, Eu, Ta, WAtoms are positioned at the vertices of the unit cell and at the body center (center of the lattice). This is not a close-packed structure.
A3Hexagonal Close Packing
HCP
\(P6_3/mmc\)Be, Mg, Sc, Ti, Co, Zn, Y, Zr, Tc, Ru, Cd, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Lu, Hf, Re, Os, TlOne of the close-packed structures. Dense planar layers are stacked in the order ABAB…. The unit cell is a right prism with a rhombic base (interior angles of 60° and 120°).
A3′\(P6_3/mmc\)α-La, Pr, Nd, Pm, Ce, Am, Cm, Bk, CfOne of the close-packed structures. Dense planar layers are packed in the order ABACABAC…. The unit cell is a hexagonal lattice.
A4Diamond type\(Fd\bar{3}m\)C, Si, Ge, α-SnIn addition to atoms at the face-centered cubic lattice points, atoms also exist at the body-center positions of 4 non-adjacent sub-lattices out of 2×2×2 subdivisions. All atoms are equivalent and tetrahedrally bonded.
A5β-Tin Structure,
White Tin Structure
\(I4_1/amd\)β-SnHas a structure like the diamond structure (A4) compressed along one axis direction. A \(4_1\) screw axis remains along the compressed axis, resulting in a tetragonal crystal system.
A6Indium type\(I4/mmm\)InA body-centered tetragonal lattice. This is the A2 structure elongated in one direction.
A7α-Arsenic type\(R\bar{3}m\)α-As, Sb, BiDistorted eight-coordination structure.
A8Selenium type\(P3_121\)γ-Se, Te
(SeTe)
A simple structure where atoms are located along the \(3_1\) screw axis.
A9Graphite type\(P6_3/mmc\)C
(LiB)
A structure of stacked sheets of planar hexagonal lattice with honeycomb bonding. The sheets are weakly bonded to each other and easily exfoliated.
A10α-Hg
ABC Packing
\(R\bar{3}m\)α-HgLike the A1 structure, dense planar layers are stacked in the order ABCABC…, but the interlayer distance is larger. Can also be thought of as the A1 structure elongated along the stacking direction. Similar to the Ai structure.
A11α-Ga\(Cmce\)α-GaDifficult to describe verbally. Orthorhombic crystal system.
A12α-Mn\(I\bar{4}3m\)α-MnA structure containing 58 atoms per unit cell. Difficult to describe verbally. Cubic crystal system. Stable below 742°C for Mn.
A13β-Mn\(P4_132\)β-MnA structure containing 20 atoms per unit cell. Difficult to describe verbally. Cubic crystal system. Stable between 742–1095°C for Mn.
A14Iodine type\(Cmce\)I2, Br2A structure consisting of diatomic molecules. The molecular centers coincide with the lattice points of an orthorhombic face-centered lattice. There are two molecular orientations, perpendicular to one lattice axis.
A15β-Tungsten\(Pm\bar{3}n\)β-W
(Distinguishing A and B: Nb3Al, CdV3, Cr3O, Ti3Sb, Ti3Au)
In addition to atoms (A) at the body-centered lattice points, atoms (B) exist at two positions on each face. The former (A) are surrounded by 12 atoms (B), and atoms (B) are linearly arranged in three mutually orthogonal but non-intersecting directions.
A16α-Sulfur\(Fddd\)α-S8Eight atoms bond together to form molecules.
A17Black Phosphorus\(Cmca\)PAtoms bond in layers, with weak bonding between layers.
A18Cl2 Structure\(P4_2/ncm\)Cl2Diatomic molecules are arranged nearly in one direction (along the \(4_2\) screw axis). Similar to the A14 structure.
A20α-Uranium\(Cmcm\)α-U, Tb, Dy, (Ag,Cd), γ–TiZigzag atomic chains are arranged in a fixed direction (along the c-axis).
Aaα-Protactinium\(I4/mmm\)α-PaA body-centered tetragonal lattice. This is the A2 structure compressed along one axis direction. (Note: A6 is the elongated structure.)
Abβ-Uranium\(P4_2/mnm\)β-UA structure where layers with near-close-packed planar arrangement are stacked along the c-axis direction.
Acα-Neptunium\(P4/nmm\)α-NpEach atom is bonded with two types of distorted 4-fold coordination.
Adβ-Neptunium\(P4/nmm\)β-NpA structure where sheets of distorted square lattice are stacked along the c-axis direction.
AfSimple Hexagonal Lattice\(P6/mmm\)HgxSnA simple structure where atoms are located at the lattice points of a hexagonal lattice.
AgBoron\(P4_2/nnm\)BA complex structure containing 50 atoms per unit cell.
AhSimple Cubic Lattice\(Pm\bar{3}m\)α-PoA structure where atoms exist at the lattice point positions of a simple cubic lattice. Despite such a simple structure, it is somewhat remarkable that its numbering is in the latter half (meaning it was discovered late).
AiABC Packing\(R\bar{3}m\)td>β-PoLike the A1 structure, dense planar layers are stacked in the order ABCABC…, but the interlayer atomic distance is shorter. Can also be thought of as the A1 structure compressed along the stacking direction. Similar to the A10 structure.
Akγ-Selenium\(P2_1/c\)γ-monoclinic SeA complex structure containing 64 atoms per unit cell. Eight atoms form ring-shaped molecules.
Alβ-Selenium\(P2_1/c\)β-monoclinic SeA complex structure containing 32 atoms per unit cell. Eight atoms form ring-shaped molecules.