VALENCE BAND ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTIONS IN QUASI-CRYSTALS

We report experimental results concerning electronic valence band distributions of different Al-Cu-Fe, Al-Mn-Pd, Al-Cu-Mn and Al-Cu-Li quasicrystals which have been probed by means of the soft X-ray emission spectroscopy technique. Adjustment of the partial distributions in the binding energy scale allows to investigate the various electronic interactions. We find evidence of hybridization effects between Alsp states and Fe(Mn)d states near the Fermi level and with Cu(Pd) states in the middle of the band. The Alsp-Cu(Pd)d interaction splits the Al s and p bands into two separated parts while the Alsp-Fe(Mn)d interaction repels the Al valence band edge from the Fermi level. It follows that the density of Al sp states at the Fermi level is very low and that a pseudo-gap is present.