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Solidification fronts in supercooled liquids: How rapid fronts can lead to disordered glassy solids
journal contribution
posted on 2013-05-17, 13:20 authored by Andrew ArcherAndrew Archer, Mark J. Robbins, Uwe Thiele, Edgar KnoblochWe determine the speed of a crystallization (or, more generally, a solidification) front as it advances into the
uniform liquid phase after the system has been quenched into the crystalline region of the phase diagram. We
calculate the front speed by assuming a dynamical density functional theory (DDFT) model for the system and
applying a marginal stability criterion. Our results also apply to phase field crystal (PFC) models of solidification.
As the solidification front advances into the unstable liquid phase, the density profile behind the advancing front
develops density modulations and the wavelength of these modulations is a dynamically chosen quantity. For
shallow quenches, the selected wavelength is precisely that of the crystalline phase and so well-ordered crystalline
states are formed. However, when the system is deeply quenched, we find that this wavelength can be quite
different from that of the crystal, so the solidification front naturally generates disorder in the system. Significant
rearrangement and aging must subsequently occur for the system to form the regular well-ordered crystal that
corresponds to the free energy minimum. Additional disorder is introduced whenever a front develops from
random initial conditions. We illustrate these findings with simulation results obtained using the PFC model.
History
School
- Science
Department
- Mathematical Sciences
Citation
ARCHER, A.J. ... et al., 2012. Solidification fronts in supercooled liquids: How rapid fronts can lead to disordered glassy solids. Physical Review E, 86 (3), 031603, 13pp.Publisher
© American Physical SocietyVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)
Publication date
2012Notes
This article was published in the journal, Physical Review E [© American Physical Society].ISSN
1539-3755Publisher version
Language
- en