Electrical resistivity of the Al65Rh27Si8 2/1 cubic approximant

Electrical resistivity measurements of the newly discovered 2/1 cubic approximants in the Al–Rh–Si system and the 1/0 cubic approximant in the Al–Rh system have been performed in order to gain insight into the role of the local atomic structure on electric transport in quasicrystals (QCs). The Al73Rh27 1/0 cubic approximant phase exhibits a distinctive metallic behavior with a low resistivity value of 350 μΩ cm at room temperature, while the Al64Rh27Si9 2/1 cubic approximant shows a QC-like behavior with a high resistivity value of around 2000 μΩ cm at room temperature. The ratio ρ15 K/ρ300 K of the 2/1 approximant reaches 1.44, which is reminiscent of the behavior observed in highly resistive icosahedral phases. This indicates that electronic transport in the 2/1 cubic approximant is essentially the same as that of quasicrystals.