Electrical resistivity of the Al65Rh27Si8 2/1 cubic approximant

Abstract Electrical resistivity measurements of the newly discovered 2/1 cubic approximants in the Al–Rh–Si system and the 1/0 cubic approximant in the Al–Rh system have been performed in order to gain insight into the role of the local atomic structure on electric transport in quasicrystals (QCs). The Al 73 Rh 27 1/0 cubic approximant phase exhibits a distinctive metallic behavior with a low resistivity value of 350 μΩ cm at room temperature, while the Al 64 Rh 27 Si 9 2/1 cubic approximant shows a QC-like behavior with a high resistivity value of around 2000 μΩ cm at room temperature. The ratio ρ 15 K /ρ 300 K of the 2/1 approximant reaches 1.44, which is reminiscent of the behavior observed in highly resistive icosahedral phases. This indicates that electronic transport in the 2/1 cubic approximant is essentially the same as that of quasicrystals.