A quasicrystal structure model for AI-Mn

Abstract

A model is proposed for the atomic structure of the Al-Mn quasicrystal. Mn icosahedra are connected through their threefold axes, with a coordination number of seven and each bond defined by an octahedron. This Mn skeleton has icosahedral symmetry and its projections onto various planes have a self-similarity property based on the golden number, in agreement with TEM results. The filling up with A1 atoms determines a sublattice where empty Al icosahedra are connected by chains of three distorted octahedra. Two kinds of Mn-Al first-neighbour environments are distinguished, involving nine and ten Al atoms. Taking the ratio of the two Mn site numbers as equal to the golden number leads to a chemical composition in agreement with X-EDS analysis.