crystal system
Sign in to saveAlso known as crystal family, lattice system
class of space groups, lattices, point groups, or crystals
~11 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The diamond crystal structure belongs to the face-centered cubic lattice, with a repeated two-atom pattern.
In crystallography, a crystal system is a set of point groups (a group of geometric symmetries with at least one fixed point). A lattice system is a set of Bravais lattices (an infinite array of discrete points). Space groups (symmetry groups of a configuration in space) are classified into crystal systems according to their point groups, and into lattice systems according to their Bravais lattices. Crystal systems that have space groups assigned to a common lattice system are combined into a crystal family.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “crystal system” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.