Comparing different approaches to model the atomic structure of a ternary decagonal quasicrystal

TL;DR

This paper compares different modeling approaches for the atomic structure of a ternary decagonal quasicrystal, focusing on the covering approach and recent experimental data to evaluate their validity and implications.

Contribution

It introduces a transformation of the covering approach into specific tilings and assesses a recent atomic decoration model against experimental images and other proposals.

Findings

The covering approach can be transformed into hexagon, boat, and star tilings.

The atomic decoration model aligns with experimental images but conflicts with some other structure proposals.

Implications for stabilization mechanisms of the quasicrystal are discussed.

Abstract

It is shown that the covering approach with a single decagonal prototile can be transformed into a hexagon, boat and star tiling. Particularly, the atomic decoration recently proposed by Cockayne and Widom (Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 598 (1998)) as a structure model for the decagonal phase is investigated. There, conflicts with the prototile approach arise which are due to specific peculiarities of the decoration. The above model is compared with recent experimental images which give strong support to its main features, but contradict competing structure proposals. The implications for the stabilization mechanism are discussed.