Electronic structure of icosahedral alloys: The case of Al65Cu20Os15

Measurements with photoemission spectroscopy in the photon-energy range 35–130 eV have been used to determine the valence band of the stable icosahedral Al₆₅Cu₂₀Os₁₅. Resonant photoemission near the Os 5p 5d and 4f 5d transitions has been employed to show that the feature in the valence band with the maximum intensity at 1.5 (1) eV below the Fermi level is predominantly of the Os 5d character. This has been additionally verified by conducting the photoemission measurements in the constant-initial-state mode and by using the effect of the Cooper minimum in the photoionization cross section of the Os 5d orbitals. The valence band feature with the maximum intensity at 3.7 (1) eV below the Fermi level has been shown as being due mainly to the states of the Cu 3d character. The Os 5d and Cu 3d empirical partial density of states have been determined from the photoemission spectra. The decrease of intensity towards the Fermi level has been interpreted as being indicative of the presence of a theoretically predicted pseudogap around the Fermi level. It has been indicated, however, that the Fermi cut-off also contributes to the observed intensity decrease. It has been demonstrated that the energy resolution of the spectroscopic measurements performed so far on quasicrystals was not high enough to unambiguously determine the presence of such a pseudogap. No unusual features in the valence band of icosahedral Al₆₅Cu₂₀Os₁₅, which could be ascribed to its quasiperiodic nature, have been observed within the resolution of the experiment. High energy-resolution spectroscopic measurements were also shown to be essential to observe the theoretically predicted spikiness of the density of states in quasicrystals. A critical review of published spectroscopic data on the electronic structure of quasicrystals has also been presented.