Growth of large single-grain quasicrystals from high-temperature metallic solutions

Flux-growth techniques have been successfully applied to the preparation of several families of quasicrystals and related approximant phases. Large (up to 1 cm3) single-grain samples have been obtained for icosahedral R–Mg–Zn (R=Y, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho and Er), decagonal Al–Ni–Co, icosahedral Al–Pd–Mn, icosahedral Al–Ga–Pd–Mn, and the ξ′ Al–Pd–Mn approximant phase. The samples are obtained by slowly cooling ternary (or quaternary) melts of a composition that intersects the primary solidification surface of the desired phase in the equilibrium ternary alloy phase diagram (i.e. this is a self-flux technique). The technique clearly reveals the growth habit, and results in remarkably strain-free quasicrystals.