Modeling the electrical conductivity of Al-Cu-Ru icosahedral quasicrystals

On the basis of suitable experimental observations, we propose a model for the electronic structure of i-Al-Cu-Ru which allows us to obtain a closed e xpression for the electrical conductivity accurately describing the most ch aracteristic features observed in the sigma (T) curves of high quality quas icrystals. By comparing the theoretical predictions with a series of experi mental data, we unveil a relationship between the density of states (DOS) s tructure, the sample stoichiometry, and the electrical conductivity at diff erent temperature ranges. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve d.