Surface preparation and characterization of the icosahedral Al–Ga–Pd–Mn quasicrystal

Auger electron spectroscopy and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) provide basic information about the structure and composition of the 5-fold surface of the quaternary quasicrystal, icosahedral Al 67Ga 4Pd 21Mn 8. Surface preparation techniques established previously for two of the icosahedral ternary alloys, Al–Pd–Mn and Al–Cu–Fe, appear to be similarly effective for Al–Ga–Pd–Mn. After annealing in the range 600–950 K, the surface concentration of Ga is constant and low. After annealing in the range 900–950 K, a good LEED pattern is obtained. LEED indicates that Ga changes the surface structure significantly.