The photomicrograph below was taken with a Nikon Microphot FX/L reflected light microscope using the vertical illuminator and a 10x BD objective under darkfield illumination.

The quasicrystalline state was discovered in 1984 when researchers obtained electron diffraction patterns of an aluminum/manganese alloy that possessed sharp reflections and a 10-fold symmetry. Solution of the diffraction patterns revealed the presence of an icosohedral symmetry composed of a series of pentagonal and hexagonal shapes. Since then, many stable and meta-stable quasicrystals have been synthesized. These compounds fall largely into two groups: icosohedral and polygonal quasicrystals, each having perfect long-range order and no three-dimensional translational periodicity, with slightly different symmetries.

BACK TO THE DARKFIELD GALLERY

Questions or comments? Send us an email.

© 1998-2022 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners.

This website is maintained by our
Graphics & Web Programming Team
in collaboration with Optical Microscopy at the
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

Last modification: Friday, Nov 13, 2015 at 01:19 PM

Access Count Since July 7, 1999: 39555

For more information on microscope manufacturers,
use the buttons below to navigate to their websites: