Thermodynamic Criterion for the Stability of Amorphous Intergranular Films in Covalent Materials

P. Keblinski, S. R. Phillpot, D. Wolf, and H. Gleiter
Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 2965 – Published 30 September 1996
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Abstract

The thermodynamic origin of disordered intergranular films commonly found in covalent ceramic materials is studied by molecular-dynamics simulation. Our studies show that all high-energy grain boundaries in a model covalent material, silicon, exhibit a universal amorphous structure, whereas low-energy boundaries are crystalline. This allows the identification of a thermodynamic criterion for the existence of stable disordered intergranular films based on the relative energies of the atoms in the grain boundaries and in the bulk amorphous phase.

  • Received 26 March 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.2965

©1996 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

P. Keblinski, S. R. Phillpot, and D. Wolf

  • Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439

H. Gleiter

  • Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 77, Iss. 14 — 30 September 1996

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