Electron energy-loss spectroscopy of Al-Mn quasicrystals.

Electronic excitation spectra in the icosahedral Al(6)Mn have been studied by electron energy-loss spectroscopy. Comparisons to the crystalline orthorhombic Al(6)Mn are also made. Significant plasmon width broadening has been observed in the icosahedral phase due to increasing channels of interband transitions. Plasmon imaging technique reveals Al precipitation at the boundaries that separate the domains and the branches within a domain. Al L(2,3) core spectra also show some differences between the icosahedral and the crystalline phase.