Structural study of a superlattice Al-Ni-Ru decagonal quasicrystal using high-resolution electron microscopy and a high-angle annular dark-field technique

A high-quality superlattice Al-Ni-Ru decagonal quasicrystal with 0.4nm periodicity, formed in the conventionally solidified Al₇₀Ni₂₀Ru₁₀ alloy, has been studied by high-resolution electron microscopy and a high-angle annular dark-field (Z-contrast) technique. It has been clearly revealed that its structure is characterized as an aperiodically ordered arrangement of decagon-shaped atomic columnar clusters which have a diameter of 2nm and show pentagonal symmetry. On the basis of high-resolution electron microscopy structure images, and the atom-resolution Z-contrast observations which highlight the transition-metal sites, the arrangement of atoms in the superlattice decagonal quasicrystal are proposed.