Electronic structure investigations of quasicrystals

We present a review of the determination of density of states (DOS) of quasicrystals using valence band photoemission spectroscopy. The absence of fine or spiky structure in the angle-integrated DOS of quasicrystals suggests the possibility of delocalized electronic states. These were confirmed with angle-resolved photoemission studies, which clearly establish the presence of dispersing features attributed to momentum-dependent bandstructure. Such dispersing states are observed not only for deeper-lying sp states, but also for d-derived bands near the Fermi level. Data from three different high symmetry surfaces of decagonal Al-Ni-Co, an ideal model system, are presented. We find that only a few dominant reciprocal lattice vectors are sufficient to describe the quasiperiodic potential, and the implications for electronic properties are discussed.