Interface Nuclei in the Y-Ag-Zn System: Three Chemical Pressure-Templated Phases with Lamellar MgZn- and CaPd-Type Domains.

The interface nucleus approach was recently presented as a framework for understanding and predicting the emergence of modular intermetallic phases, i.e., complex structures derived from the assembly of units from simpler parent structures.

Toward Predicting the Assembly of Modular Intermetallics from Chemical Pressure Analysis: The Interface Nucleus Approach.

Complex intermetallic phases are often constructed from domains derived from simpler structures arranged into hierarchical assemblies. These modular arrangements offer intriguing prospects, such as the integration of the properties of distinct compounds into a single material or for the emergence of new properties from the interactions among different domains. In this article, we develop a strategy for the design of such complex structures, which we term the interface nucleus approach.

As predicted and more: modulated channel occupation in YZn.

Like many complex intermetallic phases, the crystal structures of REZn compounds (RE = lanthanide or Group 3 element) based on the EuMg type have gradually unfolded. The original reports described a complex hexagonal structure with an unusual combination of tetrahedrally close-packed regions and open spaces, as well as observations of superstructure reflections. More recently, we reinvestigated the structure of YZn, reclassifying it as the EuMg-type compound YZn (x ≃ 0.

Chemical Pressure-Derived Assembly Principles for Dodecagonal Quasicrystal Approximants and Other Complex Frank-Kasper Phases.

The structures of complex intermetallic compounds can often be interpreted in terms of assemblies of units from simpler parent phases. For example, dodecagonal quasicrystals appear, when viewed down their high-symmetry axes, as plane-filling arrangements of square and triangular tiles corresponding to the CrSi and AlZr structure types, respectively. The atomic arrangements and cell-dimensions at the (100) faces of the cells of these structures provide a close geometrical match, which underlies not only dodecagonal quasicrystals and their approximants but also the much more common σ-phase structure.