ENHANCED INSULATORLIKE ELECTRON-TRANSPORT BEHAVIOR OF THERMALLY TUNED QUASI-CRYSTALLINE STATES OF AL-PD-RE ALLOYS

Low temperature annealing of insulating like AlPdRe icosahedral-quasicrystalline (iqc) samples has led to unexpected large changes in their transport properties, with resistivities at 0.45 K increasing from similar to 1 to > 10 Ohm cm, but their electronic structure is apparently unaffected. These findings, which add evidence for quasiperiodic order effects on electronic properties, as well as the unusual low-T (< 4.2 K) conductivity trend noted in the thermally tuned samples, underline fundamental differences between iqc and conventional materials that exhibit electron localization.