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Generalized drude formula for the optical conductivity of quasicrystals
1LEPES-CNRS, 25 avenue des Martyrs, BP 166, 38042 Grenoble, France.
Physical Review Letters
|September 16, 2000
Abstract:
We derive a generalized Drude formula for the optical conductivity of quasicrystals, assuming a diffusion law in a perfect quasicrystal L(t) approximately t(beta), where L(t) measures the spreading of a wave packet in a time t. We show that the so-called Drude peak in the optical conductivity, characteristic of metals, is strongly modified. If beta<1/2 the Drude peak is even replaced by a dip and the dc conductivity increases when disorder increases. An interpretation of the experimental results on icosahedral and decagonal phases is proposed.