Theoretical studies of the nucleation and growth of thin metal films: a focus on Ag deposited on Ag(100)

Theoretical studies of the nucleation and growth of metal films are performed, where the focus is the Molecular Beam Epitaxial (MBE) growth of Ag on the Ag(100) surface. Ag films grown under MBE, for the temperatures and atomic fluxes considered here (0→300K), are very far from equilibrium structures, due to the breaking of detailed balance during deposition. Included are studies of: metal film growth at very low temperatures; the temperature dependence of mound formation; the temperature dependence of kinetic roughening; the effect of the step-edge barrier on very thin films, and the post-deposition time dependence of nucleation. For these studies a range of lattice gas models are developed that are thought to contain the essential physics. These models contain such features as terrace diffusion, realistic edge diffusion process, a non-uniform Erlich-Schwoebel barrier, restricted and normal Downward Funneling, and low barrier diffusion process along micro-facets. The models were then tested by first performing a Kinetic Monte-Carlo simulation, and comparing the results to experimental data generated from previous Scanning Tunneling Microscopy studies. The models not only proved to be in good agreement with average quantities of the experimental film, but also proved to reproduce the details of the experimental morphologies quite well

Importance of Shear in the bcc-to-hcp Transformation in Iron

Iron shows a pressure-induced martensitic phase transformation from the ground state ferromagnetic bcc phase to a nonmagnetic hcp phase at ≈13 GPa. The exact transformation pressure (TP) and pathway are not known. Here we present a multiscale model containing a quantum-mechanics-based multiwell energy function accounting for the bcc and hcp phases of Fe and a construction of kinematically compatible and equilibrated mixed phases. This model suggests that shear stresses have a significant influence on the bcc↔hcp transformation. In particular, the presence of modest shear accounts for the scatter in measured TPs. The formation of mixed phases also provides an explanation for the observed hysteresis in TP

Importance of Shear in the bcc-to-hcp Transformation in Iron

Iron shows a pressure-induced martensitic phase transformation from the ground state ferromagnetic bcc phase to a nonmagnetic hcp phase at ≈13 GPa. The exact transformation pressure (TP) and pathway are not known. Here we present a multiscale model containing a quantum-mechanics-based multiwell energy function accounting for the bcc and hcp phases of Fe and a construction of kinematically compatible and equilibrated mixed phases. This model suggests that shear stresses have a significant influence on the bcc↔hcp transformation. In particular, the presence of modest shear accounts for the scatter in measured TPs. The formation of mixed phases also provides an explanation for the observed hysteresis in TP

Theoretical and experimental investigation of the equation of state of boron plasmas

We report a theoretical equation of state (EOS) table for boron across a wide range of temperatures (5.1$\times$10$^4$-5.2$\times$10$^8$ K) and densities (0.25-49 g/cm$^3$), and experimental shock Hugoniot data at unprecedented high pressures (5608$\pm$118 GPa). The calculations are performed with full, first-principles methods combining path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) at high temperatures and density functional theory molecular dynamics (DFT-MD) methods at lower temperatures. PIMC and DFT-MD cross-validate each other by providing coherent EOS (difference $<$1.5 Hartree/boron in energy and $<$5% in pressure) at 5.1$\times$10$^5$ K. The Hugoniot measurement is conducted at the National Ignition Facility using a planar shock platform. The pressure-density relation found in our shock experiment is on top of the shock Hugoniot profile predicted with our first-principles EOS and a semi-empirical EOS table (LEOS 50). We investigate the self diffusivity and the effect of thermal and pressure-driven ionization on the EOS and shock compression behavior in high pressure and temperature conditions We study the performance sensitivity of a polar direct-drive exploding pusher platform to pressure variations based on comparison of the first-principles calculations with LEOS 50 via 1D hydrodynamic simulations. The results are valuable for future theoretical and experimental studies and engineering design in high energy density research. (LLNL-JRNL-748227)Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 2 table

Equation of state of warm-dense boron nitride combining computation, modeling, and experiment

The equation of state (EOS) of materials at warm dense conditions poses significant challenges to both theory and experiment. We report a combined computational, modeling, and experimental investigation leveraging new theoretical and experimental capabilities to investigate warm-dense boron nitride (BN). The simulation methodologies include path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC), several density functional theory (DFT) molecular dynamics methods [plane-wave pseudopotential, Fermi operator expansion (FOE), and spectral quadrature (SQ)], activity expansion (ACTEX), and all-electron Green's function Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (MECCA), and compute the pressure and internal energy of BN over a broad range of densities ($\rho$) and temperatures ($T$). Our experiments were conducted at the Omega laser facility and measured the Hugoniot of BN to unprecedented pressures (12--30 Mbar). The EOSs computed using different methods cross validate one another, and the experimental Hugoniot are in good agreement with our theoretical predictions. We assess that the largest discrepancies between theoretical predictions are $<$4% in pressure and $<$3% in energy and occur at $10^6$ K. We find remarkable consistency between the EOS from DFT calculations performed on different platforms and using different exchange-correlation functionals and those from PIMC using free-particle nodes. This provides strong evidence for the accuracy of both PIMC and DFT in the warm-dense regime. Moreover, SQ and FOE data have significantly smaller error bars than PIMC, and so represent significant advances for efficient computation at high $T$. We also construct tabular EOS models and clarify the ionic and electronic structure of BN over a broad $T-\rho$ range and quantify their roles in the EOS. The tabular models may be utilized for future simulations of laser-driven experiments that include BN as a candidate ablator material.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, 4 table

Equation of state of boron nitride combining computation, modeling, and experiment

The equation of state (EOS) of materials at warm dense conditions poses significant challenges to both theory and experiment. We report a combined computational, modeling, and experimental investigation leveraging new theoretical and experimental capabilities to investigate warm-dense boron nitride (BN). The simulation methodologies include path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC), several density functional theory (DFT) molecular dynamics methods [plane-wave pseudopotential, Fermi operator expansion (FOE), and spectral quadrature (SQ)], activity expansion (actex), and all-electron Green\u27s function Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (mecca), and compute the pressure and internal energy of BN over a broad range of densities and temperatures. Our experiments were conducted at the Omega laser facility and the Hugoniot response of BN to unprecedented pressures (1200–2650 GPa). The EOSs computed using different methods cross validate one another in the warm-dense matter regime, and the experimental Hugoniot data are in good agreement with our theoretical predictions. By comparing the EOS results from different methods, we assess that the largest discrepancies between theoretical predictions are ≲4% in pressure and ≲3% in energy and occur at 106K, slightly below the peak compression that corresponds to the K-shell ionization regime. At these conditions, we find remarkable consistency between the EOS from DFT calculations performed on different platforms and using different exchange-correlation functionals and those from PIMC using free-particle nodes. This provides strong evidence for the accuracy of both PIMC and DFT in the high-pressure, high-temperature regime. Moreover, the recently developed SQ and FOE methods produce EOS data that have significantly smaller statistical error bars than PIMC, and so represent significant advances for efficient computation at high temperatures. The shock Hugoniot predicted by PIMC, actex, and mecca shows a maximum compression ratio of 4.55±0.05 for an initial density of 2.26g/cm3, higher than the Thomas-Fermi predictions by about 5%. In addition, we construct tabular EOS models that are consistent with the first-principles simulations and the experimental data. Our findings clarify the ionic and electronic structure of BN over a broad range of temperatures and densities and quantify their roles in the EOS and properties of this material. The tabular models may be utilized for future simulations of laser-driven experiments that include BN as a candidate ablator material

Theoretical studies of the nucleation and growth of thin metal films: a focus on Ag deposited on Ag(100)

Theoretical studies of the nucleation and growth of metal films are performed, where the focus is the Molecular Beam Epitaxial (MBE) growth of Ag on the Ag(100) surface. Ag films grown under MBE, for the temperatures and atomic fluxes considered here (0→300K), are very far from equilibrium structures, due to the breaking of detailed balance during deposition. Included are studies of: metal film growth at very low temperatures; the temperature dependence of "mound" formation; the temperature dependence of kinetic roughening; the effect of the step-edge barrier on very thin films, and the post-deposition time dependence of nucleation. For these studies a range of lattice gas models are developed that are thought to contain the essential physics. These models contain such features as terrace diffusion, realistic edge diffusion process, a non-uniform Erlich-Schwoebel barrier, "restricted" and normal Downward Funneling, and low barrier diffusion process along micro-facets. The models were then tested by first performing a Kinetic Monte-Carlo simulation, and comparing the results to experimental data generated from previous Scanning Tunneling Microscopy studies. The models not only proved to be in good agreement with average quantities of the experimental film, but also proved to reproduce the details of the experimental morphologies quite well.</p