M. Deboissieu et al., DISORDER AND COMPLEXITY IN THE ATOMIC-STRUCTURE OF THE PERFECT ICOSAHEDRAL ALLOY AL-PD-MN, Physical review letters, 72(22), 1994, pp. 3538-3541
The atomic structure of the perfect Al-Pd-Mn icosahedral phase has bee
n studied on single grain samples. Using anomalous x-ray diffraction c
lose to the Pd edge, the partial structure factor F(Pd) has been extra
cted. In the six-dimensional description of its structure, we find tha
t the atomic surface cannot be described by an object with a sharp bou
ndary. A phason Debye-Waller term has been introduced to fully account
for the data. It is interpreted as resulting from random phason disor
der and nonsphericity of the atomic surfaces.