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Quasicrystal Structures and Properties
Research Guide
What is Quasicrystal Structures and Properties?
Quasicrystal structures are aperiodic ordered solids with long-range orientational order and sharp diffraction patterns exhibiting icosahedral or other non-crystallographic symmetries, while their properties include unique combinations of hardness, low friction, and potential applications in photonics due to aperiodic order.
Quasicrystals feature long-range orientational order without translational symmetry, as observed in Al-14-at.%-Mn alloys with icosahedral point group symmetry and sharp diffraction spots not indexable to any Bravais lattice (Shechtman et al., 1984). The field encompasses 38,311 works on their atomic structure, formation, stability, and uses in photonics and plasmonics. Theoretical models classify quasicrystals by rotational symmetries disallowed in periodic crystals, extending the concept of translational order to quasiperiodic order (Levine and Steinhardt, 1984).
Topic Hierarchy
Research Sub-Topics
Aperiodic Tiling Models
Researchers study mathematical models of aperiodic tilings, such as Penrose tilings, and their role in describing quasicrystalline order. This includes hierarchical structures and substitution rules for generating non-periodic lattices.
Special Quasirandom Structures
This subtopic focuses on computational methods to generate special quasirandom structures (SQS) that mimic random alloys while maintaining quasicrystalline-like short-range order. Researchers apply SQS in ab initio simulations to study electronic and thermodynamic properties.
Quasicrystal Atomic Structure Determination
Investigations use diffraction techniques like X-ray, electron, and neutron scattering to resolve atomic arrangements in quasicrystals. Studies emphasize phason strains, diffuse scattering, and structure refinement models.
Mechanical Properties of Quasicrystals
Researchers examine elasticity, plasticity, dislocation dynamics, and deformation mechanisms unique to quasicrystals, including phason walls and twinning. Experimental and theoretical elasticity theory for point and line groups is a key focus.
Quasicrystal Formation and Stability
This area covers thermodynamic modeling, phase diagrams, and growth kinetics of quasicrystals in metallic alloys. Studies explore nucleation, rapid solidification, and metastable quasicrystalline phases.
Why It Matters
Quasicrystals exhibit properties such as high hardness, low electrical conductivity, and low thermal conductivity, enabling applications in non-stick coatings and thermoelectric devices. Shechtman et al. (1984) identified a metallic solid (Al-14-at.%-Mn) with icosahedral symmetry, demonstrating stability as a metastable phase with sharp diffraction patterns, which opened paths for engineering materials with aperiodic order. Their role in photonics stems from aperiodic structures supporting unique wave propagation, while metallic alloys with quasicrystalline phases enhance corrosion resistance and mechanical strength in related materials research.
Reading Guide
Where to Start
'Metallic Phase with Long-Range Orientational Order and No Translational Symmetry' by Shechtman et al. (1984), as it reports the original experimental observation of icosahedral quasicrystals in Al-14-at.%-Mn with sharp diffraction patterns, providing the foundational evidence.
Key Papers Explained
Shechtman et al. (1984) experimentally discovered icosahedral quasicrystals in 'Metallic Phase with Long-Range Orientational Order and No Translational Symmetry', prompting Levine and Steinhardt (1984) to theorize them as quasiperiodic structures in 'Quasicrystals: A New Class of Ordered Structures'. Zunger et al. (1990) extended modeling to aperiodic alloys via special quasirandom structures in 'Special quasirandom structures', aiding computational studies of quasicrystal-like phases. These works establish the observational, theoretical, and simulation foundations.
Paper Timeline
Most-cited paper highlighted in red. Papers ordered chronologically.
Advanced Directions
Research continues on thermodynamic modeling and elasticity theory of quasicrystals, building on dynamical systems and mesoscopic tiling for aperiodic order. No recent preprints or news available, so frontiers remain in stability of nanoparticle superlattices and photonic applications from the core 38,311 works.
Papers at a Glance
| # | Paper | Year | Venue | Citations | Open Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metallic Phase with Long-Range Orientational Order and No Tran... | 1984 | Physical Review Letters | 6.9K | ✓ |
| 2 | Special quasirandom structures | 1990 | Physical Review Letters | 3.6K | ✕ |
| 3 | Deformation twinning | 1995 | Progress in Materials ... | 3.4K | ✕ |
| 4 | Periodic boundary conditions in<i>ab initio</i>calculations | 1995 | Physical review. B, Co... | 2.9K | ✕ |
| 5 | The iterative calculation of a few of the lowest eigenvalues a... | 1975 | Journal of Computation... | 2.5K | ✕ |
| 6 | Quasicrystals: A New Class of Ordered Structures | 1984 | Physical Review Letters | 2.1K | ✓ |
| 7 | Slater-Pauling behavior and origin of the half-metallicity of ... | 2002 | Physical review. B, Co... | 2.0K | ✓ |
| 8 | Metallic Glasses | 1995 | Science | 1.6K | ✕ |
| 9 | Efficient stochastic generation of special quasirandom structures | 2013 | Calphad | 1.5K | ✕ |
| 10 | Amorphous metallic alloys | 1983 | Elsevier eBooks | 1.5K | ✕ |
Frequently Asked Questions
What defines the structure of quasicrystals?
Quasicrystals possess long-range orientational order and icosahedral point group symmetry without translational symmetry consistent with lattice translations. Their diffraction spots are sharp like those of crystals but cannot be indexed to any Bravais lattice, as shown in Al-14-at.%-Mn (Shechtman et al., 1984). This aperiodic order extends the notion of crystals to quasiperiodic translational order (Levine and Steinhardt, 1984).
How were quasicrystals first discovered?
Quasicrystals were first observed in a rapidly solidified Al-14-at.%-Mn metallic alloy exhibiting icosahedral symmetry. The solid showed sharp diffraction spots inconsistent with Bravais lattices, reported by Shechtman et al. (1984) in 'Metallic Phase with Long-Range Orientational Order and No Translational Symmetry'. This discovery challenged traditional crystallographic rules.
What symmetries characterize quasicrystals?
Quasicrystals display rotational symmetries such as fivefold or tenfold axes, forbidden in periodic crystals. Levine and Steinhardt (1984) classified two- and three-dimensional quasicrystals by their symmetry under rotation in 'Quasicrystals: A New Class of Ordered Structures'. These structures maintain quasiperiodic order.
What are the properties of quasicrystals relevant to applications?
Quasicrystals combine high hardness, low friction, low electrical and thermal conductivity, and stability in metallic alloys. These traits arise from aperiodic atomic arrangements observed in Al-Mn phases (Shechtman et al., 1984). Such properties support uses in photonics, plasmonics, and coatings.
How do quasicrystals relate to special quasirandom structures?
Special quasirandom structures (SQS) model substitutionally random alloys by designing supercells that mimic random occupations statistically. Zunger et al. (1990) introduced SQS in 'Special quasirandom structures' for accurate ab initio property calculations. While not quasicrystals, SQS connect to aperiodic modeling in quasicrystal-related alloys.
Open Research Questions
- ? How do thermodynamic factors control the formation and stability of quasicrystalline phases in metallic alloys?
- ? What atomic arrangements precisely generate icosahedral diffraction patterns in metastable quasicrystals?
- ? How does aperiodic order in quasicrystals enable distinct photonic band structures compared to periodic crystals?
- ? What mechanisms govern phason strains and defects in three-dimensional quasicrystal elasticity?
- ? Which dynamical systems underlie the growth processes leading to long-range orientational order in quasicrystals?
Recent Trends
The field of quasicrystal structures and properties includes 38,311 works with no specified 5-year growth rate available.
Foundational papers like Shechtman et al. with 6925 citations and Levine and Steinhardt (1984) with 2058 citations dominate citations.
1984No recent preprints or news coverage in the last 12 months indicates steady focus on established atomic structures, elasticity theory, and photonics applications.
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