Surface layer self diffusion in icosahedral Al-Pd-Mn quasicrystals

The self diffusion of Mn and Pd in a single grain icosahedral Al_69.9Pd_20.5Mn_9.6 quasicrystal has been determined by low energy ion scattering (LEIS). The diffusion was determined by depositing different elements (Pd, Mn) on the surface and measuring the rate of change in surface composition as a function of temperature by LEIS. The surface composition was monitored over the temperature range of 355-575 K for Mn and 440-745 K for Pd and compared to model calculations to allow the activation energy for diffusion to be determined. Activation energies of 0.20 ± 0.01 eV for Mn and 0.64 ± 0.03 eV for Pd have then been measured for self diffusion in i-Al-Pd-Mn, respectively. No deviation from Arrhenius behavior was detected in the temperature range covered by the present experiments. From the low values of activation energy we propose that this range of diffusion is phason related, reflecting the specific nature of the icosahedral structure.     

CdTe and PbTe nanostructures on the oxidized pentagonal surface of an icosahedral AlPdMn quasicrystal

By means of congruent evaporation, we have deposited CdTe and PbTe onto the oxidized fivefold-symmetry surface of an icosahedral AlPdMn quasicrystal. This procedure results in the formation of nanocrystals in both cases. While the azimuthal orientations of the crystallites are random, the polar orientations are well defined. The crystalline CdTe and PbTe domains expose their (1 1 1) and (0 0 1) faces, respectively, which are aligned parallel to the pentagonal surface of the quasicrystal. The nanometric size of the domains is not a result of the lattice mismatch between the growing film and the substrate as usually observed in molecular-beam epitaxy, but of the limited size of the oxide domains of the substrate surface.     

Ni deposition on the pentagonal surface of an icosahedral Al-Pd-Mn quasicrystal

We have evaporated Ni on the pentagonal surface of an icosahedral Al-Pd-Mn quasicrystal kept at room temperature. At the initial stage of growth, Ni intermixes with the substrate surface. Subsequently, Al from the quasicrystal matrix migrates to growing layers. The modified chemical composition in an initially icosahedral region near the surface induces a structural transformation. An Al-Pd-Mn alloy is formed which consists of five cubic domains with dimensions in the nm-range exposing their (1 1 0) faces parallel to the surface. These domains are azimuthally rotated by 2π/5 with respect to each other and aligned with symmetry directions of the icosahedral substrate. Al-Mn-Ni, Al-Ni, and Ni overlayers adopt both structure and orientation of these domains which stabilises Ni in a novel body-centred cubic phase. Ni-rich overlayers exhibit out-of-plane magnetic ordering.     

The quasicrystal-crystal interface between icosahedral Al-Pd-Mn and deposited Co: Evidence for the affinity of the quasicrystal structure to the CsCl structure

We have evaporated Co on the pentagonal surface of an icosahedral Al-Pd-Mn quasicrystal kept at room temperature. For submonolayer Co deposits, five AlCo domains are formed exposing their (1 1 0) faces parallel to the surface and rotated by 72° with respect to each other. The orientational relationship between these domains and the substrate is determined by the optimum matching of the average quasicrystal structure and the CsCl structure with a lattice constant of about 2.88 Å. For further deposition, body-centred cubic Co domains grow epitaxially on the AlCo domains.     

Decagonal quasicrystal in the Al–Pd–Mn system

Abstract

A stable decagonal quasicrystal in Al₇₀Pd_30?xMn_x alloys (x = 10–20) was examined by electron diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy. The decagonal quasicrystalline grains are formed with definite crystallographic relationships to adjacent icosahedral and Al₃Mn crystalline grains. The structure of the decagonal phase, which is formed as the main phase at near Al₇₀Pd₁₀Mn₂₀ composition, is a mixture of decagonal quasicrystalline regions with some linear phason strain and microcrystalline regions. The structures of both regions may be interpreted in terms of quasiperiodic and periodic tilings, constructed with two types of bond lengths, S (about 2 nm) and L (= τ · S, where τ is the Golden ratio), of the same atom cluster with decagonal symmetry.