Aperiodic Crystals

Most materials and crystals have an atomic structure which is described by a regular stacking of a microscopic fundamental unit, the unit cell. However, there are also many well ordered materials without such a unit cell. This book deals with the structure determination and a discussion of the main special properties of these materials.

Over the past several decades, a This book deals with the characterisation of the structure, the structure determination and the study of the physical properties, especially dynamical and electronic properties of aperiodic crystals. The treatment is based on a description in a space with more dimensions than three, the so-called superspace. This allows us to generalise the standard crystallography and to look differently at the dynamics. The three main classes of aperiodic crystals, modulated phases, incommensurate composites and quasicrystals are treated from a unified point of view, which stresses similarities of the various systems. The book assumes as a prerequisite a knowledge of the fundamental techniques of crystallography and the theory of condensed matter, and covers the literature at the forefront of the field. Since the first edition of this book in 2007, the field of aperiodic crystals has developed considerably, with the discovery of new materials and new structures. Progress has been made in structure determination, in the interpretation and understanding of the structural characteristics and in the calculation of electrons and phonons. This new edition reflects these new developments, and it includes discussions of natural quasicrystals, incommensurate magnetic and multiferroic structures, photonic and mesoscopic quasicrystals. The second edition also includes a number of new exercises that give the reader an opportunityt to check their understanding of the material.

Aperiodic Crystals collects 37 selected papers from the scientific contributions presented at Aperiodic 2012 - the Seventh International Conference on Aperiodic Crystalsheld held in Cairns, Australia, 2-7 of September 2012. The volume discusses state-of-the-art discoveries, new trends and applications of aperiodic crystals - including incommensurately modulated crystals, composite crystals, and quasicrystals - from a wide range of different perspectives. Starting with a general historical introduction to aperiodic crystals, the book proceeds to examine the complex mathematics of aperiodic long-range order, as well as the theoretical approaches aimed at understanding some of the unique properties and mechanisms underlying the existence of aperiodic crystals. The book then explores in detail such topics as complex metallic alloys, modulated structures, quasicrystals and their approximants, dynamics, disorder and defects in quasicrystals. It concludes with an analysis of quasicrystal surfaces and their properties. By describing the latest research and the progress made on the structure determination of aperiodic crystals and the influence of this unique structure on their physical properties, this book represents a valuable resource to mathematicians, crystallographers, physicists, chemists, materials and surface scientists, and even architects and artists, interested in the fascinating nature of aperiodic crystals.

This book deals with various aspects of aperiodic crystals, quasicrystals, incommensurate crystals, composite crystals, modulated crystals and polytypes. It is mainly oriented towards crystallographic investigations and to the search for new theoretical and methodological methods aiming to model this state of matter and to understand the links between the structure and the properties. Basically multidisciplinary, the book covers many fields of aperiodic crystals, from materials science to mathematics.

The conference promotes the theoretical and methodological development of crystallographic investigations of aperiodic crystals including modulated structures, polytypes, incommensurate misfit or composite crystals and quasi crystals. It also promotes scientific interchange among groups working in the various fields of aperiodic materials. Special emphasis will be given to multidisciplinary aspects of aperiodicity.

Until the 1970s all materials studied consisted of periodic arrays of unit cells, or were amorphous. A new class of solid state matter called aperiodic crystals has since been uncovered. It is a long range ordered structure, but without lattice periodicity. It is found in a wide range of materials: organic and anorganic compounds, minerals (including a substantial portion of the earths crust), and metallic alloys, under various pressures and temperatures. Because of the lack of periodicity, the usual techniques for the study of structure and physical properties no longer work, and new techniques have to be developed. This book deals with the characterisation of the structure, the structure determination and the study of the physical properties, especially dynamical and electronic properties of aperiodic crystals. The treatment is based on a description in a space with more dimensions than three, the so-called superspace. This allows us to generalise the standard crystallography and to look differently at the dynamics. The three main classes of aperiodic crystals, modulated phases, incommensurate composites and quasicrystals are treated from a unified point of view, which stresses similarities of the various systems. The book assumes as a prerequisite a knowledge of the fundamental techniques of crystallography and the theory of condensed matter, and covers the literature at the forefront of the field. Since the first edition of this book in 2007, the field of aperiodic crystals has developed considerably, with the discovery of new materials and new structures. Progress has been made in structure determination, in the interpretation and understanding of the structural characteristics and in the calculation of electrons and phonons. This new edition reflects these new developments, and it includes discussions of natural quasicrystals, incommensurate magnetic and multiferroic structures, photonic and mesoscopic quasicrystals. The second edition also includes a number of new exercises that give the reader an opportunityt to check their understanding of the material.

This book provides an interdisciplinary guide to quasicrystals, the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winning topic, by presenting an up-to-date and detailed introduction to the many fundamental aspects and applications of quasicrystals science. It reviews the most characteristic features of the peculiar geometric order underlying their structure and their reported intrinsic physical properties, along with their potential for specific applications. The role of quasiperiodic order in science and technology is also examined by focusing on the new design capabilities provided by this novel ordering of matter. This book is specifically devoted to promoting the very notion of quasiperiodic order, and to spur its physical implications and technological capabilities. It, therefore, explores the fundamental aspects of intermetallic, photonic, and phononic quasicrystals, as well as soft-matter quasicrystals, including their intrinsic physical and structural properties. In addition, it thoroughly discusses experimental data and related theoretical approaches to explain them, extending the standard treatment given in most current solid state physics literature. It also explores exciting applications in new technological devices of quasiperiodically ordered systems, including multilayered quasiperiodic systems, along with 2D and 3D designs, whilst outlining new frontiers in quasicrystals research. This book can be used as a reader-friendly introductory text for graduate students, in addition to senior scientists and researchers coming from the fields of physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. Key features: • Provides an updated and detailed introduction to the interdisciplinary field of quasicrystals in a tutorial style, considering both fundamental aspects and additional freedom degrees provided by designs based on quasiperiodically ordered materials. • Includes 50 fully worked out exercises with detailed solutions, motivating, and illustrating the different concepts and notions to provide readers with further learning opportunities. • Presents a complete compendium of the current state of the art knowledge of quasicrystalline matter, and outlines future next generation materials based on quasiperiodically ordered designs for their potential use in useful technological devices. Dr. Enrique Maciá-Barber is Professor of condensed matter physics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. His research interests include the thermoelectric properties of quasicrystals and DNA biophysics. In 2010 he received the RSEF- BBVA Foundation Excellence Physics Teaching Award. His book Aperiodic Structures in Condensed Matter: Fundamentals and Applications (CRC Press, Boca-Raton, 2009) is one of the Top Selling Physics Books according to YBP Library Services.