First steps in the growth of Cu thin films on the five-fold surface of the icosahedral Al-Cu-Fe quasicrystal

The growth of Cu on the five-fold surface of the icosahedral Al-Cu-Fe is investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. The clean surface exhibits atomically flat terraces separated by steps of different heights. The steps are found to be frequently bunched. For a coverage close to a monolayer, Cu forms a nearly closed film of a height corresponding to a monolayer of Cu. The film, however, does not exhibit long-range order.