In situ observation of antisite defect formation during crystal growth

Ordering of binary colloidal crystals by random potentials

Structural defects are ubiquitous in condensed matter, and not always a nuisance. For example, they underlie phenomena such as Anderson localization and hyperuniformity, and they are now being exploited to engineer novel materials. Here, we show experimentally that the density of structural defects in a 2D binary colloidal crystal can be engineered with a random potential. We generate the random potential using an optical speckle pattern, whose induced forces act strongly on one species of particles (strong particles) and weakly on the other (weak particles). Thus, the strong particles are more attracted to the randomly distributed local minima of the optical potential, leaving a trail of defects in the crystalline structure of the colloidal crystal. While, as expected, the crystalline ordering initially decreases with an increasing fraction of strong particles, the crystalline order is surprisingly recovered for sufficiently large fractions. We confirm our experimental results with particle-based simulations, which permit us to elucidate how this non-monotonic behavior results from the competition between the particle-potential and particle-particle interactions.

The Molecular Dynamics Study of Vacancy Formation During Solidification of Pure Metals

In order to understand the defect trapping during solidification in pure elements, we have performed molecular dynamics simulations on both aluminum and nickel. We find that vacancies are the dominant defects in the product crystals for both metals. For slight undercooling, the vacancy concentration strongly depends on the growth velocity, rather than the growth orientations, and there is an approximately linear relationship between the growth velocity and vacancy concentration. However, for deep undercooling, the vacancy concentration shows a remarkable anisotropy between (100) and (110) orientations. Based on the competition between atomic diffusion and growth, a possible mechanism for vacancy trapping is suggested.

Surface-orientation-dependent distribution of subsurface cation-exchange defects in olivine-phosphate nanocrystals

Atomic-scale exchange between two different cations of similar size in crystalline oxides is one of the major types of point defects when multiple cations in oxygen interstitials are arrayed in an ordered manner. Although a number of studies have been performed on a variety of Li-intercalation olivine phosphates to determine the distribution of exchange defects in bulk, understanding of the thermodynamic stability of the defects in subsurface regions and its dependency on the crystallographic orientation at the surface has remained elusive. Through a combination of small-angle neutron scattering, atomic-scale direct probing with scanning transmission electron microscopy, and theoretical ab initio calculations, we directly demonstrate that the antisite exchange defects are distributed in a highly anisotropic manner near the surfaces of LiFePO4 crystals. Moreover, a substantial amount of cation exchanges between Li and Fe sites is identified as an energetically favorable configuration in some surface regions, showing excellent agreement with the calculation results of negative defect formation energies. The findings in this study provide insight into developing better ways to avoid degradation of lithium mobility through the surface as well as scientifically notable features regarding the distribution of exchange defects in olivine phosphates.

Predicting the solid state phase diagram for glass-forming alloys of copper and zirconium

The free energies of six crystal structures associated with Cu-Zr alloys-Cu (face centred cubic), Cu(2)Zr, Cu(10)Zr(7), CuZr, CuZr(2) and Zr (hexagonal close packed)-are calculated using the embedded atom potential of Mendelev et al (2009 Phil. Mag. 89 967). We find that the observed low temperature stability of the Cu(10)Zr(7) and CuZr(2) phases is not reproduced. Instead, the model predicts that the CuZr phase remains stable down to T = 0 K. This discrepancy is largely removed when the interaction potentials are cut off at a short distance, such as that used by Duan et al (2005 Phys. Rev. B 71 224208). We present evidence, however, that the cut-off distance necessary to achieve the change in phase stability results in pathological artefacts in the energetics of some crystal phases.

Distinct configurations of antisite defects in ordered metal phosphates: comparison between LiMnPO4 and LiFePO4

By using a combination of aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy, ab initio density-functional theory calculations, and neutron powder diffraction techniques, We have found completely different configurations of the antisite exchange defects in LiMnPO4 and LiFePO4, with a random distribution of the exchange pairs without aggregation in the former and with zigzag-type clustering behavior preferred in the latter. Recalling the compositional analogy and identical crystal structure of the two metal phosphates, such unexpectedly distinct arrangement of the same type of point defects is a notable structural aspect.

Disorder trapping during crystallization of the B2-ordered NiAl compound

Using molecular dynamics simulations, disorder trapping associated with solidification is studied for the (100), (110), and (111) growth directions in the B2 NiAl ordered alloy compound. At the high interface velocities studied we observe pronounced disorder and defect trapping, i.e., the formation of antisite defects and vacancies in the crystal at higher than equilibrium concentrations upon rapid solidification. The vacancies are located primarily on the Ni sublattice and the majority of antisite defects are Ni atoms on the Al sublattice, while the concentration of Al on the Ni sublattice is negligibly small. The defect concentration is found to increase in an approximately linear relationship with increasing the interface velocity. Further there is no significant anisotropy in the defect concentrations for different interface orientations. Our results suggest that the currently available models of disorder trapping should be extended to include both antisite defects and vacancies.