Identifying and Indexing Icosahedral Quasicrystals from Powder Diffraction Patterns

Abstract

We present a scheme to identify quasicrystals based on powder diffraction data and to provide a standardized indexing. We apply our scheme to a large catalog of powder diffraction patterns, including natural minerals, to look for new quasicrystals. Based on our tests, we have found promising candidates worthy of further exploration.

4 pages, 1 figure