Intrinsic anisotropic magnetic, electrical, and thermal transport properties of d-Al-Co-Ni decagonal quasicrystals

Bobnar, M.; Jeglič, P.; Klanjšek, M.; Jagličić, Z.; Wencka, M.; Popčević, Petar; Ivkov, Jovica; Stanic, Denis; Smontara, Ana; Gille, Peter und Dolinšek, Janez (2012): Intrinsic anisotropic magnetic, electrical, and thermal transport properties of d-Al-Co-Ni decagonal quasicrystals. In: Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Bd. 85, Nr. 2

Abstract

To address the questions on the anisotropy of bulk physical properties of decagonal quasicrystals and the intrinsic physical properties of the d-Al-Co-Ni phase, we investigated the anisotropic magnetic susceptibility, the electrical resistivity, the thermoelectric power, the Hall coefficient, and the thermal conductivity of a d-Al-Co-Ni single crystal of exceptional structural quality. Superior structural order on the local scale of atomic clusters was confirmed by 27Al nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The measurements were performed in the 10-fold periodic direction of the structure and in three specific crystallographic directions within the quasiperiodic plane, corresponding to the 2 and 2′ twofold symmetry directions and their bisector. The specific heat, being a scalar quantity, was determined as well. The measurements of the second-rank bulk tensorial properties confirm the theoretical prediction that a solid of decagonal point group symmetry should exhibit isotropic physical properties within the quasiperiodic plane and anisotropy between the in-plane and the 10-fold directions. d-Al-Co-Ni is an anisotropic diamagnet with stronger diamagnetism for the magnetic field in the 10-fold direction. Electrical and thermal transport is strongly metallic in the 10-fold direction but largely suppressed within the quasiperiodic plane, the main reason being the lack of translational periodicity that hinders the propagation of electrons and phonons in a nonperiodic lattice. The third-rank Hall-coefficient tensor shows sign-reversal anisotropy related to the direction of the magnetic field when applied in the 10-fold direction or within the quasiperiodic plane. The observed anisotropy is not a peculiarity of quasicrystals but should be a general feature of solids with broken translational periodicity in two dimensions.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Geowissenschaften > Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften > Kristallographie und Materialwissenschaft
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 550 Geowissenschaften, Geologie
• Sprache: Englisch