Structure formation on a quasicrystalline substrate

Abstract

In recent Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) Experiments by Flüuckiger et al. on periodic Al films grown on a quasicrystalline substrate, it was observed that depending on the thickness of the Al film grown, the structure of the Al superlattice consists of domains of hexagonal symmetry that are oriented with respect to each other at angles commensurate with the underlying decagonal structure of the substrate [1]. The structural properties of a periodic film grown on a quasi-periodic substrate was studied using molecular dynamics simulations with simulated annealing. The simulations were set up using the atomic coordinates of the quasicrystalline structure as obtained from the diff raction experiments by Saitoh et al. [2]. It is found that the structure formed exhibits translational and rotational e ects resulting from the underlying quasicrystalline substrate. The effects of changing the parametrization in simulations were also investigated and no signifficant change in the characteristics of the final structure formed was encountered. The Fourier investigations are in compliance with the diffraction experiment results of [1].