Abstract
Examples of stable binary icosahedral quasicrystals are relatively rare, and at present there are no known examples featuring localized magnetic moments. These would represent an ideal model system for attaining a deeper understanding of the nature of magnetic interactions in aperiodic lattices. Here we report the discovery of a family of at least seven rare earth icosahedral binary quasicrystals, i-R-Cd (R=Gd to Tm, Y), six of which bear localized magnetic moments. Our work highlights the importance of carefully motivated searches through phase space and supports the proposal that, like icosahedral Sc 12 Zn 88 (ref.), binary quasicrystalline phases may well exist nearby known crystalline approximants, perhaps as peritectically forming compounds with very limited liquidus surfaces, offering very limited ranges of composition/ temperature for primary solidification.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 714-718 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Nature Materials |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2013 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
We acknowledge and thank W. Straszheim for the WDS measurements, D. S. Robinson and A. Sapkota for assistance with the high-energy X-ray diffraction measurements and R. J. McQueeney for useful discussions. The research was supported by the Office of the Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences Division, US Department of Energy (DOE). Ames Laboratory is operated for DOE by Iowa State University under contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358. Use of the Advanced Photon Source was supported by the US DOE under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Materials Sciences Division | |
| Office of the Basic Energy Sciences | |
| U.S. Department of Energy | DE-AC02-06CH11357 |
| Iowa State University | DE-AC02-07CH11358 |