Atomic-scale structure of the fivefold surface of an AlPdMn quasicrystal: a quantitative X-ray photoelectron diffraction analysis

Abstract

The atomic-scale structure of the fivefold symmetric surface of an AlPdMn quasicrystal is investigated quantitatively by comparing x-ray photoelectron diffraction simulations to experiment. The observed fivefold symmetry of the diffraction patterns indicates that the surface is quasicrystalline with no hint of a reconstruction from the bulk structure. In analyzing the experimental data, many possible bulk terminations have been tested. Those few that fit best to the data have in common that they contain an Al-rich surface layer followed by a dense mixed Al/Pd/Mn layer. These best terminations, while not identical to each other, are suggested to form terraces coexisting on a real surface. Structural relaxations of the quasicrystal surface are also analyzed: mixing several best-fit terminations gives average best-fit interlayer spacing changes of Δd₁₂=−0.057Å and Δd₂₄=+0.159Å. These results are in good agreement with a prior structure determination by low-energy electron diffraction on a sample that was prepared in a different manner.