Experimental verification of the quasi-unit-cell model of quasicrystal structure

Paul J. Steinhardt, H. C. Jeong, K. Saitoh, M. Tanaka, E. Abe, A. P. Tsai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

156 Scopus citations

Abstract

The atomic structure of quasicrystals-solids with long-range order, but non-periodic atomic lattice structure is often described as the three- dimensional generalization of the planar two-tile Penrose pattern. Recently, an alternative model has been proposed that describes such structures in terms of a single repeating unit -the three-dimensional generalization of a pattern composed of identical decagons. This model is similar in concept to the unit-cell description of periodic crystals, with the decagon playing the role of a 'quasi-unit cell'. But, unlike the unit cells in periodic crystals, these quasi-unit cells overlap their neighbours, in the sense that they share atoms. Nevertheless, the basic concept of unit cells in both periodic crystals and quasicrystals is essentially the same: solving the entire atomic structure of the solid reduces to determining the distribution of atoms in the unit cell. Here we report experimental evidence for the quasi-unit-cell model by solving the structure of the decagonal quasicrystal Al72Ni20Co8. The resulting structure is consistent with images obtained by electron and X-ray diffraction, and agrees with the measured stoichiometry, density and symmetry of the compound. The quasi-unit-cell model provides a significantly better fit to these results than all previous alternative models, including Penrose tiling.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)55-57
Number of pages3
JournalNature
Volume396
Issue number6706
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 5 1998

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

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