First steps in the growth of Cu thin films on the five-fold surface of the icosahedral Al–Cu–Fe quasicrystal

The growth of Cu on the five-fold surface of the icosahedral Al–Cu–Fe is investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. The clean surface exhibits atomically flat terraces separated by steps of different heights. The steps are found to be frequently bunched. For a coverage close to a monolayer, Cu forms a nearly closed film of a height corresponding to a monolayer of Cu. The film, however, does not exhibit long-range order.