Growth and properties of quasiperiodic heterostructures

Abstract

We have recently demonstrated the MBE growth of heterostructures in which layers of GaAs and AlAs were deposited in a Fibonacci sequence. This yields a quasiperiodic structure with the ratio of incommensurate periods equal to the golden mean, γ. We present an overview of the unique structural, electronic, and vibrational properties of this new class of materials emphasizing the role of the incommensurate structure normal to the layers. Inevitably, defects are introduced by growth fluctuations but do not appear to disrupt significantly the special characteristics which originate from the quasiperiodic ordering. © 1987.