https://doi.org/10.15255/KUI.2011.033
Published: Kem. Ind. 61 (7-8) (2012) 349–359
Paper reference number: KUI-33/2011
Paper type: Review
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Quasicrystals – Discovery, Structure and Properties

V. Stilinović and F. M. Brueckler

Abstract

Quasicrystals are solid materials the structures of which can have crystallographically forbidden symmetries, e.g. of the fifth order, and do not have the translational invariance charactistic for classical crystals. Their properties are quite different from those of classical crystals. Although all being metals, they are poor conductors of heat and electricity and are hard and brittle. Their structures can be described as quasiperiodic. The mathematical description of quasiperiodicity predates the discovery of quasicrystals and has greatly facilitated the study and the interpretation of the quasicrystals’ structures and properties. This paper provides an overview of the most basic results of the study of quasicrystals and quasiperiodicity.

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Keywords

quasicrystals, diffraction, tilings, nonperiodic tilings, symmetries