Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Anomalous vibrational dynamics in the Mg2Zn11 phase

Euchner, H. ; Mihalkovič, M. ; Gähler, F. ; Johnson, M. R. LU ; Schober, H. ; Rols, S. ; Suard, E. ; Bosak, A. ; Ohhashi, S. and Tsai, A. P. , et al. (2011) In Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics 83(14).
Abstract

We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of the structure and the lattice dynamics in the complex metallic alloy Mg2Zn 11, by means of neutron and x-ray scattering, as well as ab initio and empirical potential calculations. Mg2Zn11 can be seen as an intermediate step in structural complexity between the simple Laves-phase MgZn2 on one side, and the complex 1/1 approximants and quasicrystals ZnMgAl and Zn(Mg)Sc on the other. The structure can be described as a cubic packing of a triacontahedron whose center is partially occupied by a Zn atom. This partially occupied site turned out to play a major role in understanding the lattice dynamics. Data from inelastic neutron... (More)

We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of the structure and the lattice dynamics in the complex metallic alloy Mg2Zn 11, by means of neutron and x-ray scattering, as well as ab initio and empirical potential calculations. Mg2Zn11 can be seen as an intermediate step in structural complexity between the simple Laves-phase MgZn2 on one side, and the complex 1/1 approximants and quasicrystals ZnMgAl and Zn(Mg)Sc on the other. The structure can be described as a cubic packing of a triacontahedron whose center is partially occupied by a Zn atom. This partially occupied site turned out to play a major role in understanding the lattice dynamics. Data from inelastic neutron scattering evidence a Van Hove singularity in the vibrational spectrum of Mg2Zn11 for an energy as low as 4.5 meV, which is a unique feature for a nearly-close-packed metallic alloy. This corresponds to a gap opening at the Brillouin zone boundary and an interaction between a low-lying optical branch and an acoustic one, as could be deduced from the dispersion relation measured by inelastic x-ray scattering. Second, the measured phonon density of states exhibits many maxima, indicating strong mode interactions across the whole energy range. The origin of the low-energy modes in Mg2Zn11 and other features of the vibrational spectra are studied, using both ab initio and empirical potential calculations. A detailed analysis of vibrational eigenmodes is presented, linking features in the vibrational spectrum to atomic motions within structural building blocks.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
volume
83
issue
14
article number
144202
publisher
American Physical Society
external identifiers
  • scopus:79961110140
ISSN
1098-0121
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevB.83.144202
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
aaf1658d-a85f-4d46-b8d9-dd19c1a7a7df
date added to LUP
2019-04-08 15:48:21
date last changed
2022-04-02 07:51:33
@article{aaf1658d-a85f-4d46-b8d9-dd19c1a7a7df,
  abstract     = {{<p>We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of the structure and the lattice dynamics in the complex metallic alloy Mg<sub>2</sub>Zn <sub>11</sub>, by means of neutron and x-ray scattering, as well as ab initio and empirical potential calculations. Mg<sub>2</sub>Zn<sub>11</sub> can be seen as an intermediate step in structural complexity between the simple Laves-phase MgZn<sub>2</sub> on one side, and the complex 1/1 approximants and quasicrystals ZnMgAl and Zn(Mg)Sc on the other. The structure can be described as a cubic packing of a triacontahedron whose center is partially occupied by a Zn atom. This partially occupied site turned out to play a major role in understanding the lattice dynamics. Data from inelastic neutron scattering evidence a Van Hove singularity in the vibrational spectrum of Mg<sub>2</sub>Zn<sub>11</sub> for an energy as low as 4.5 meV, which is a unique feature for a nearly-close-packed metallic alloy. This corresponds to a gap opening at the Brillouin zone boundary and an interaction between a low-lying optical branch and an acoustic one, as could be deduced from the dispersion relation measured by inelastic x-ray scattering. Second, the measured phonon density of states exhibits many maxima, indicating strong mode interactions across the whole energy range. The origin of the low-energy modes in Mg<sub>2</sub>Zn<sub>11</sub> and other features of the vibrational spectra are studied, using both ab initio and empirical potential calculations. A detailed analysis of vibrational eigenmodes is presented, linking features in the vibrational spectrum to atomic motions within structural building blocks.</p>}},
  author       = {{Euchner, H. and Mihalkovič, M. and Gähler, F. and Johnson, M. R. and Schober, H. and Rols, S. and Suard, E. and Bosak, A. and Ohhashi, S. and Tsai, A. P. and Lidin, S. and Gomez, C. Pay and Custers, J. and Paschen, S. and De Boissieu, M.}},
  issn         = {{1098-0121}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  number       = {{14}},
  publisher    = {{American Physical Society}},
  series       = {{Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics}},
  title        = {{Anomalous vibrational dynamics in the Mg<sub>2</sub>Zn<sub>11</sub> phase}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.83.144202}},
  doi          = {{10.1103/PhysRevB.83.144202}},
  volume       = {{83}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}