Rapidly quenched powders of Al74Mn20Si6were prepared by the ultrasonic gas atomization technique. Particles ranged from less than 40 &mgr;m to greater than 150 &mgr;m. The smaller particles were found to be primarily of the icosahedral phase. Larger powders showed an increasing proportion of the &bgr;‐Al‐MnSi phase. There was no evidence for the presence of &agr;‐AlMnSi commonly found in crystallized icosahedral AlMnSi alloys. Magnetic measurements showed the existence of a local Mn moment in all alloys. This moment was found to be 1.27 &mgr;Bfor the icosahedral phase and 0.63 &mgr;Bfor the &bgr; phase.