Molecular dynamics studies of Radiation Effects in Silicon Carbide

We discuss results of molecular dynamics computer simulation studies of 3 keV and 5 keV displacement cascades in β-SiC, and compare them to results of 5 keV cascades in pure silicon. The SiC simulations are performed with the Tersoff potential. For silicon we use the Stillinger-Weber potential. Simulations were carried out for Si recoils in 3 dimensional cubic computational cells with periodic boundary conditions and up to 175,616 atoms. The cascade lifetime in SiC is found to be extremely short. This, combined with the high melting temperature of SiC, precludes direct lattice amorphization during the cascade. Although large disordered regions result, these retain their basic crystalline structure. These results are in contrast with observations in pure silicon where direct-impact amorphization from the cascade is seen to take place. The SiC results also show anisotropy in the number of Si and C recoils as well as in the number of replacements in each sublattice. Details of the damage configurations obtained will be discussed.

Annealing Kinetics of Single Displacement Cascades in Ni: An Atomic Scale Computer Simulation

In order to describe the long term evolution of the defects produced by a displacement cascade, Molecular dynamics (MD) and Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) methods are employed. Using an empirical Ni interatomic potential in MD, the damage resulting from primary knock-on atom (PKA) energies up to 30 keV has been simulated. The annealing kinetics and the fraction of freely migrating defects (FMD) are determined for each single displacement cascade, by a KMC code which is based on a set of parameters extracted mainly from MD simulations. It allows an atomistic study of the evolution of the initial damage over a time scale up to lOOs and the determination of the fraction of the defects that escape the KMC box, compared to those obtained by MD, as function of temperature and PKA energy. It has been found that this fraction depends strongly on the temperature but reaches a saturation value above stage V.

A Molecular Dynamics Study of Cu Segregation to the Σ11 Grain Boundary In Al

We present results of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies of Cu segregation to the Σ11 grain boundary (GB) in Al. The simulations were performed with Embedded Atom Method (EAM) potentials for Al and Al-Cu. The results predict that copper atoms tend to order along either side of the interface even at the pure symmetrical GB, forming alternating chains along the direction. The nucleation of the chains is driven by a change in the local atomic level stress induced by the pre-existing Cu atoms at the GB.