High-temperature anomalous specific heat of hypermaterials

Quasicrystals, which are typical examples of hypermaterials, have a peculiar structural order characterized by quasiperiodicity and non-crystallographical point group symmetry. Since their discovery in an Al-Mu alloy in 1984, many efforts have been devoted to revealing the physical properties that reflect truly the peculiar structural order of QC alloys. Unusual behavior in specific heat observed at high temperatures for QC alloys may be one such property. In this article, we present the results of our recent experiments on it, and discuss possible physical origin of the unusual behavior in specific heat in view of phason degrees of freedom that arise from quasiperiodic structural order of quasicrystals. (author)