Skip to Main Content
Skip Nav Destination
GEOREF RECORD

Quasicrystals at extreme conditions; the role of pressure in stabilizing icosahedral Al (sub 63) Cu (sub 24) Fe (sub 13) at high temperature

Vincenzo Stagno, Luca Bindi, Changyong Park, Sergey Tkachev, Vitali B. Prakapenka, H. K. Mao, Russell J. Hemley, Paul J. Steinhardt and Yingwei Fei
Quasicrystals at extreme conditions; the role of pressure in stabilizing icosahedral Al (sub 63) Cu (sub 24) Fe (sub 13) at high temperature
American Mineralogist (December 2015) 100 (11-12): 2412-2418

Abstract

Icosahedrite, the first natural quasicrystal with composition Al (sub 63) Cu (sub 24) Fe (sub 13) , was discovered in several grains of the Khatyrka meteorite, a CV3 carbonaceous chondrite. The presence of icosahedrite associated with high-pressure phases like ahrensite and stishovite indicates formation at high pressures and temperatures due to an impact-induced shock. Previous experimental studies on the stability of synthetic icosahedral AlCuFe have either been limited to ambient pressure, for which they indicate incongruent melting at approximately 1123 K, or limited to room-temperature, for which they indicate structural stability up to about 35 GPa. These data are insufficient to experimentally constrain the formation and stability of icosahedrite under the conditions of high pressure and temperature that formed the Khatyrka meteorite. Here we present the results of room-temperature, high-pressure diamond-anvil cells measurements of the compressional behavior of synthetic icosahedrite up to approximately 50 GPa. High P-T experiments were also carried out using both laser-heated diamond-anvil cells combined with in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction (at approximately 42 GPa) and multi-anvil apparatus (at 21 GPa) to investigate the structural evolution and crystallization of possible coexisting phases. The results demonstrate that the quasiperiodic order of icosahedrite is retained over the P-T range explored. We find that pressure acts to stabilize the icosahedral symmetry at temperatures much higher than previously reported. Direct solidification of AlCuFe quasicrystals from an unusual Al-Cu-rich melt is possible but it is limited to a narrow temperature range. Alternatively, quasicrystals may form after crystallization through solid-solid reactions of Al-rich phases. In either case, our results show that quasicrystals can preserve their structure even after hypervelocity impacts spanning a broad range of pressures and temperatures.


ISSN: 0003-004X
EISSN: 1945-3027
Coden: AMMIAY
Serial Title: American Mineralogist
Serial Volume: 100
Serial Issue: 11-12
Title: Quasicrystals at extreme conditions; the role of pressure in stabilizing icosahedral Al (sub 63) Cu (sub 24) Fe (sub 13) at high temperature
Affiliation: Carnegie Institution of Washington, Geophysical Laboratory, Washington, DC, United States
Pages: 2412-2418
Published: 201512
Text Language: English
Publisher: Mineralogical Society of America, Washington, DC, United States
References: 31
Accession Number: 2016-007431
Categories: Geophysics of minerals and rocks
Document Type: Serial
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Illustration Description: illus.
Secondary Affiliation: Ehime University, JPN, JapanTokyo Institute of Technology, JPN, JapanUniversita di Firenze, ITA, ItalyUniversity of Chicago, USA, United StatesCenter for High Pressure Science and Technology Shanghai, CHN, ChinaPrinceton University, USA, United States
Country of Publication: United States
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2017, American Geosciences Institute.
Update Code: 201604
Close Modal

or Create an Account

Close Modal
Close Modal