Distribution of electric field gradients in decagonal quasicrystals

Abstract

We measured the orientation-dependent ²⁷Al NMR spectra of a decagonal Al–Ni–Co quasicrystal. In order to explain the experimental results, we had to introduce a model for electric field gradients (EFGs) in decagonal quasicrystals. The EFGs reflect the structure of quasicrystals. Therefore, from the comparison between the NMR results and the model EFGs we can test the atomic structure models of quasicrystals.

Acknowledgements

We thank Walter Steurer from ETH, Zürich, for valuable discussions and substantially improving understanding of our results in combination with X-ray measurements done by his collaborator Thomas Weber. We also thank Michael Feuerbacher from Jülich for provision of the decagonal Al_72.6Ni_10.5Co_16.9 quasicrystal.