Superior room-temperature ductility of typically brittle quasicrystals at small sizes

Yu Zou (), Pawel Kuczera, Alla Sologubenko, Takashi Sumigawa, Takayuki Kitamura, Walter Steurer and Ralph Spolenak ()
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Yu Zou: Laboratory for Nanometallurgy, ETH Zurich
Pawel Kuczera: Laboratory of Crystallography, ETH Zurich
Alla Sologubenko: Laboratory for Nanometallurgy, ETH Zurich
Takashi Sumigawa: Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University
Takayuki Kitamura: Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University
Walter Steurer: Laboratory of Crystallography, ETH Zurich
Ralph Spolenak: Laboratory for Nanometallurgy, ETH Zurich

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The discovery of quasicrystals three decades ago unveiled a class of matter that exhibits long-range order but lacks translational periodicity. Owing to their unique structures, quasicrystals possess many unusual properties. However, a well-known bottleneck that impedes their widespread application is their intrinsic brittleness: plastic deformation has been found to only be possible at high temperatures or under hydrostatic pressures, and their deformation mechanism at low temperatures is still unclear. Here, we report that typically brittle quasicrystals can exhibit remarkable ductility of over 50% strains and high strengths of ∼4.5 GPa at room temperature and sub-micrometer scales. In contrast to the generally accepted dominant deformation mechanism in quasicrystals—dislocation climb, our observation suggests that dislocation glide may govern plasticity under high-stress and low-temperature conditions. The ability to plastically deform quasicrystals at room temperature should lead to an improved understanding of their deformation mechanism and application in small-scale devices.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12261

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