The crystal structures significantly affect the electrical, optical, and mechanical properties of materials, leading to exotic physical phenomena in advanced functional materials. Solid solutions are often employed for crystal manipulation with the goal of discovering new atomic structures possessing novel properties. A practical guideline for adjusting the atomic structure symmetry of different materials is highly expected for the design of functional materials. By examining the similarity of close-packed layers in inorganic materials with different functionalities, a linear dependency between structural symmetry and composition is revealed. “Layer stacking slabs” can serve as a concise and practical pathway for structural manipulation by layer-stacking-unit rearrangement, which is promising for designing materials with various crystal symmetries and characteristics. This layer-stacking-oriented structure manipulation is further confirmed by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy imaging, and synchrotron X-ray pair distribution function analysis. Following the close-packed layer spacing guidance, a new possible thermoelectric material system of (I–V–VI₂)–(V₂–VI₃) has been experimentally synthesized in this work, thereby expanding the range of thermoelectric candidates. The layer-spacing-based structural indicator exhibits the potential for accelerating the exploration of new functional materials across different application fields.

中文翻译：

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从紧密堆积的板坯组装设计半导体


晶体结构显着影响材料的电学、光学和机械性能，导致高级功能材料中出现奇特的物理现象。固溶体通常用于晶体操作，目的是发现具有新性质的新原子结构。对于功能材料的设计，非常期待调整不同材料原子结构对称性的实用指南。通过检查具有不同功能的无机材料中密堆积层的相似性，揭示了结构对称性和成分之间的线性依赖关系。“层堆叠板”可以作为一种简洁实用的途径，通过层堆叠单元重排进行结构操作，这对于设计具有各种晶体对称性和特性的材料很有前途。这种面向层堆叠的结构操作通过 X 射线衍射、透射电子显微镜成像和同步加速器 X 射线对分布函数分析进一步证实。按照紧密堆积的层间距指导，这项工作实验合成了一种新的可能的热电材料系统 （I-V-VI₂）-（V_{2-VI 3}），从而扩大了热电候选物的范围。基于层间距的结构指标显示出加速不同应用领域对新功能材料的探索的潜力。