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A stable binary quasicrystal

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Abstract

All stable quasicrystals known so far are composed of at least three metallic elements1,2,3,4. Sixteen years after the discovery of the quasicrystal5, we describe a stable binary quasicrystalline alloy in a cadmium–ytterbium (Cd–Yb) system. The structure of this alloy represents a new class of packing of 66-atom icosahedral clusters whose internal structure breaks the icosahedral symmetry. The binary quasicrystal offers a new opportunity to investigate the relation between thermodynamic stability and quasiperiodic structure, as well as providing a basis for the construction of crystallographic models.

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Figure 1: Cd5,7Yb quasicrystal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Institute for Metals, and CREST, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Tsukuba, 305-0047 , Japan

    A. P. Tsai, J. Q. Guo, E. Abe, H. Takakura & T. J. Sato

Authors
  1. A. P. Tsai
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  2. J. Q. Guo
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  3. E. Abe
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  4. H. Takakura
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  5. T. J. Sato
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Correspondence to A. P. Tsai.

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Tsai, A., Guo, J., Abe, E. et al. A stable binary quasicrystal. Nature 408, 537–538 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35046202

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