A Dodecagonal Quasicrystalline Chalcogenide.

ABSTRACT

Diffractograms with twelvefold rotational symmetry (depicted on the right) were obtained from the first quasicrystalline chalcogenide Ta1.6 Te. This compound was prepared on a preparative scale by the reduction of TaTe2 with tantalum below 1870 K. This tantalum-rich telluride, which is the first stable dodecagonal phase, has enabled an in-depth investigation of this unusual state of ordering.