Quasicrystalline Decagonal and Related Crystalline Approximant Structures.

The icosahedral phase is a condensed phase of matter that has a noncrystallographic point group with long range orientational and translational order but lacks strict periodicity. Periodicity is replaced in all dimensions by a mathematically well defined quasiperiodicity. Two and one dimensional quasicrystals also form in the same metalic-alloy systems as does the icosahedral quasicrystal. The decagonal phase is an example of a two-dimensional quasicrystal that occurs with discrete one dimensional periodicities of approximately 4 A x (1, 2, 3, and 4). The different periodicity decagonal phases are studied with an analytical transmission electron microscope (TEM), using high resolution electron microscopy (HREM), convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED), selected area diffraction (SAD), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). X -ray powder diffraction studies are also presented. Closely related crystalline structures that approximate well the noncrystallographic symmetries of quasicrystals, were also studied. These crystals also exhibit the same discrete periodicities present in the decagonal phases. The striking similarities between the different periodicity decagonal phases, the icosahedral phase, and the crystalline approximant structures suggest that they all contain similar fundamental atomic clusters. Further, the discrete decagonal periodicities observed suggest that the decagonal structures are formed by different stacking sequences of similar atomic clusters. An atomic model that is based on distorted icosahedrally symmetric clusters that are stacked with different interpenetration depths to form the different periodicity decagonal phases, is presented.