Use of periodic approximants in a dynamical LEED study of the quasicrystalline tenfold surface of decagonal Al-Ni-Co

K. Pussi, N. Ferralis, M. Mihalkovic, M. Widom, S. Curtarolo, M. Gierer, C. J. Jenks, P. Canfield, I. R. Fisher, and R. D. Diehl
Phys. Rev. B 73, 184203 – Published 12 May 2006

Abstract

The determination of quasicrystal (QC) surface structures is a challenge to current surface structure techniques. Low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) is the primary technique for the determination of periodic surface structures, but application of dynamical LEED to quasicrystals requires the use of many approximations. In this study, two different approaches were used to apply dynamical LEED to the structure of the tenfold surface of decagonal Al73Ni10Co17. One method (method 1) involves the use of a quasicrystalline model along with approximations that average over the composition and local geometries. The other method (method 2) uses periodic models that approximate the actual local QC structure (approximants) in more exact, atomistic calculations. Although the results using the two methods were consistent, the results of the approximant analysis (method 2) suggested a different way to apply the approximations in method 1, resulting in a better fit between experimental and calculated beams. Thus, periodic approximant structure models can provide a simpler and more efficient method for the determination of local geometries in QC surfaces, and may also facilitate analyses using quasicrystal models.

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  • Received 8 February 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.73.184203

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

K. Pussi

  • Department of Electrical Engineering, Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, FIN-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland

N. Ferralis

  • Physics Department and Materials Research Institute, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA

M. Mihalkovic

  • Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska Cesta 9, Bratislava 84228, Slovakia

M. Widom

  • Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA

S. Curtarolo

  • Department of Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA

M. Gierer

  • Institute for Crystallography and Applied Mineralogy, Theresienstrasse 41, 80333 München, Germany

C. J. Jenks, P. Canfield, and I. R. Fisher*

  • Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA

R. D. Diehl

  • Physics Department and Materials Research Institute, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA

  • *Present address: Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford CA 94305.

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Vol. 73, Iss. 18 — 1 May 2006

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