Abstract
A systematic method for the superspace description of crystallographic shear (CS) structures is proposed. A (3 + 1)-dimensional [(3 + 1)D] superspace model for ideal CS structures is constructed in connection with the shear operation in 3D space, which is defined by a shear plane and a shear vector. All structural parameters in the model are related to those of the parent structures by this operation. This leads to inherently discontinuous and sawtooth-like modulation functions.