Investigations of the Electronic Properties and Surface Structures of Aluminium-Rich Quasicrystalline Alloys
- Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
The work presented in this dissertation has investigated three distinct areas of interest in the field of quasicrystals: bulk structure, transport properties, and electronic structure. First, they have described the results of a study which explored the fundamental interactions between the atomic species of the icosahedral Al-Pd-Mn quasicrystal. The goal of this work was to determine whether the pseudo-MacKay or Bergman type clusters have a special stability or are merely a geometric coincidence. This was carried out by using laser vaporization to produce gas-phase metal clusters, which were analyzed using time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Both the kinetic and thermodynamic stabilities of the clusters were probed. The data indicated no special stability for either pseudo-MacKay or Bergman type clusters as isolated units. This, however, is not proof that these clusters are simply a geometric coincidence. It is possible that such clusters only have stability in the framework of the bulk matrix and do not exist as isolated units. Next, they have reported their investigations of the bulk thermal transport properties of a decagonal Al-Ni-Co two dimensional quasicrystal in the temperature range 373K-873K. The properties of a sample oriented along the periodic axis and another oriented along the aperiodic axis were measured. A high degree of anisotropy was observed between the aperiodic and periodic directions. Additionally, the properties were measured for a sample miscut to an orientation 45° off-axis. The properties of the miscut sample were shown to have good agreement with a theoretical model used to describe thermal transport in metallic single crystals. This model only considers thermal transport by a free-electron gas; therefore, agreement with experimental data suggests the validity of the Drude free-electron model for the decagonal Al-Ni-Co at these temperatures. Consequently, the observed anisotropy may be adequately described using classical transport equations. Transport behavior is described in terms of charge carriers and the mean-free time between carrier collisions. It is concluded that the mean-free time is much longer in the periodic direction than in the aperiodic direction. This difference produces the observed anisotropy in thermal transport. The third study presented a detailed analysis of the reversible, sputter-induced phase transformation which occurs on the 5-fold surface of an icosahedral Al-Cu-Fe quasicrystal. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), and ultra-violet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) data were collected as a function of annealing temperature and were used to probe surface structure, surface composition, and electronic structure, respectively. The composition and structure of the sputtered surface are consistent with a transformation to the β-Al-Cu-Fe cubic structure, and shows a sharp metallic cut-off in the spectral intensity of the electronic structure at the Fermi edge. Upon annealing the surface reverts to a quasicrystalline composition and structure. This transformation has been correlated with a reduction in the spectral intensity of the electronic structure at the Fermi level. This data clearly demonstrates that the observed reduction is intrinsic to a quasicrystalline surface. It is concluded that this is due to the opening of a pseudo-gap in the electronic density of states as the surface reverts from β-Al-Cu-Fe to quasicrystalline.
- Research Organization:
- Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-Eng-82
- OSTI ID:
- 816443
- Report Number(s):
- IS-T 2018; TRN: US200320%%547
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: TH: Thesis (Ph.D.); Submitted to Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (US); PBD: 5 Aug 2003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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