Quasicrystal

Quasicrystals are physical lattices with translational disorder that retain local, rotational symmetry.

Unlike quasicrystals, 'perfect' crystals have both translational and rotational symmetry, and are always close-packed:



Quasicrystal Examples
. [[image:Ho-Mg-ZnQuasicrystal.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Photograph of a single-grain icosahedral Ho-Mg-Zn quasicrystal grown from the ternary melt. Shown over a mm scale, the edges are 2.2 mm long. Note the clearly deﬁned pentagonal facets, and the dodecahedral morphology. [in: Phys. Rev. B 59, 308–321 (1999)]] [[image:Zn-Mg-HoDiffraction.JPG|thumb|400px|left|Electron diffraction pattern (EDP) of an icosahedral Zn-Mg-Ho quasicrystal]]



''Note in the EDP at left the broad diffraction spots and the diffuse halos surrounding each of the the diffraction spots. Notable also is the presence of mixed symmetries in the diffraction pattern, reflecting the presence of mixed local symmetries in the quasicrystal itself''. The diffuse halos are the consequence of the low phase coherence for the atoms that `are not in precise register' in the quasicrystal.



Technological Uses

 * Quasicrystals

Languages

 * Quasi-cristal: Usage on fr.wikipedia.org
 * Usage on cs.wikipedia.org :Kvazikrystal
 * Usage on de.wikipedia.orgFestkörper: Quasikristall solid=Festkörper