Electronic distributions of Al-Mn and Al-Mn-Si alloys

Electronic distributions of various symmetries have been investigated for both valence and conduction bands in a series of Al-Mn and Al-Mn-Si alloys of different structural states (amorphous, quasi-crystalline or crystalline) and Mn concentrations ranging from 14 to 22 at.%. Experiments have been carried out by means of soft-X-ray emission and photoabsorption spectroscopies. This allowed the authors to provide a complete description of the valence band states and to confirm the progressive opening of a small gap in the Al-sp DOS at the Fermi level with increasing Mn concentration in the alloys. At a given Mn concentration the gap is wider for the quasi-crystalline phase than for its crystalline counterpart.