Analytic representation of multi-ion interatomic potentials in transition metals

Machine learning interatomic potentials for aluminium: application to solidification phenomena

In studying solidification process by simulations on the atomic scale, the modeling of crystal nucleation or amorphization requires the construction of interatomic interactions that are able to reproduce the properties of both the solid and the liquid states. Taking into account rare nucleation events or structural relaxation under deep undercooling conditions requires much larger length scales and longer time scales than those achievable byab initiomolecular dynamics (AIMD). This problem is addressed by means of classical molecular dynamics simulations using a well established high dimensional neural network potential trained on a set of configurations generated by AIMD relevant for solidification phenomena. Our dataset contains various crystalline structures and liquid states at different pressures, including their time fluctuations in a wide range of temperatures. Applied to elemental aluminium, the resulting potential is shown to be efficient to reproduce the basic structural, dynamics and thermodynamic quantities in the liquid and undercooled states. Early stages of crystallization are further investigated on a much larger scale with one million atoms, allowing us to unravel features of the homogeneous nucleation mechanisms in the fcc phase at ambient pressure as well as in the bcc phase at high pressure with unprecedented accuracy close to theab initioone. In both cases, a single step nucleation process is observed.

Study of microscopic origin of segregation for Fe(x)Cu(1-x) and Cu(x)Co(1-x) liquid binary alloys

The segregating properties for FexCu1-x and CuxCo1-x liquid-liquid binary alloys are investigated theoretically. Here, the free energy of mixing is calculated by using the electronic theory of metals within the framework of the perturbative approach. The calculated results such as the critical temperature and the critical concentration agree well with the available experimental data. Most importantly, the present work confirms our previous finding [M. Mehedi Faruk and G. M. Bhuiyan, Physica B 422, 56 (2013)] that the volume dependent part of the energy of mixing is mostly responsible for segregation of metallic alloys.

Quantum-mechanical interatomic potentials with electron temperature for strong-coupling transition metals

In narrow d-band transition metals, electron temperature T(el) can impact the underlying electronic structure for temperatures near and above melt, strongly coupling the ion- and electron-thermal degrees of freedom and producing T(el)-dependent interatomic forces. Starting from the Mermin formulation of density functional theory, we have extended first-principles generalized pseudopotential theory to finite electron temperature and then developed efficient T(el)-dependent model generalized pseudopotential theory interatomic potentials for a Mo prototype. Unlike potentials based on the T(el)=0 electronic structure, the T(el)-dependent model generalized pseudopotential theory potentials yield a high-pressure Mo melt curve consistent with density functional theory quantum simulations, as well as with dynamic experiments, and also support a rich polymorphism in the high-(T,P) phase diagram.

Ab-Initio Determination of the Atomic Structure of Symmetrical Tilt Grain Boundaries in BCC Transition Metals

Atomistic simulations of grain-boundary structures in body-centered cubic transition metals have revealed that angle-dependent contributions to interatomic interactions are essential. Unfortunately, the results of presently available empirical many-body potentials are not yet always sufficiently reliable for quantitative theoretical predictions of grain-boundary structures, which are consistent with experimental observations, e.g. by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.

Ab-initio electronic-structure calculations based on the local-density-functional theory offer the possibility to determine accurately the microscopic structures of special, high-symmetry grain boundaries, which can be used as data bases for the improvement of empirical many-body potentials. Such ab-initio calculations, with a mixed-basis pseudopotential method and grain-boundary supercells, are presented for Σ5 (310) [001] 36.87° symmetrical tilt grain boundaries in Niobium and Molybdenum.

Entropy of mixing for Ag(x)In(1-x) and Ag(x)Sn(1-x) liquid binary alloys

The entropy of mixing for Ag(x)In(1-x) and Ag(x)Sn(1-x) liquid binary alloys has been systematically investigated by using the perturbation theory. The interionic interactions as one of the basic ingredients are described by a local model pseudopotential. Since the metals forming the concerned alloys are less simple in nature the effect of the sp-d hybridization is appropriately taken into account through the interionic interactions. Results of our calculations across the full range of Ag concentrations are found to be good in agreement with the available experimental data.

Ab initiomelting curve of molybdenum by the phase coexistence method

Ab initio calculations of the melting curve of molybdenum for the pressure range 0-400 GPa are reported. The calculations employ density functional theory (DFT) with the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof exchange-correlation functional in the projector augmented wave (PAW) implementation. Tests are presented showing that these techniques accurately reproduce experimental data on low-temperature body-centered cubic (bcc) Mo, and that PAW agrees closely with results from the full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave implementation. The work attempts to overcome the uncertainties inherent in earlier DFT calculations of the melting curve of Mo, by using the "reference coexistence" technique to determine the melting curve. In this technique, an empirical reference model (here, the embedded-atom model) is accurately fitted to DFT molecular dynamics data on the liquid and the high-temperature solid, the melting curve of the reference model is determined by simulations of coexisting solid and liquid, and the ab initio melting curve is obtained by applying free-energy corrections. The calculated melting curve agrees well with experiment at ambient pressure and is consistent with shock data at high pressure, but does not agree with the high-pressure melting curve deduced from static compression experiments. Calculated results for the radial distribution function show that the short-range atomic order of the liquid is very similar to that of the high-T solid, with a slight decrease of coordination number on passing from solid to liquid. The electronic densities of states in the two phases show only small differences. The results do not support a recent theory according to which very low dT(m)dP values are expected for bcc transition metals because of electron redistribution between s-p and d states.

Beyond finite-size scaling in solidification simulations

Although computer simulation has played a central role in the study of nucleation and growth since the earliest molecular dynamics simulations almost 50 years ago, confusion surrounding the effect of finite size on such simulations has limited their applicability. Modeling solidification in molten tantalum on the Blue Gene/L computer, we report here on the first atomistic simulation of solidification that verifies independence from finite-size effects during the entire nucleation and growth process, up to the onset of coarsening. We show that finite-size scaling theory explains the observed maximal grain sizes for systems up to about 8 000 000 atoms. For larger simulations, a crossover from finite-size scaling to more physical size-independent behavior is observed.

Electronic fluctuation and the van der Waals metal

Interactions determining the structure of condensed matter can systematically be developed starting with the fundamental view of such systems as neutral canonical ensembles of nuclei and electrons and proceeding to the more common viewpoint of ions and valence electrons but retaining in both the dominant fluctuational effects normally omitted.