Liquidlike atomic environments act as plasticity carriers in amorphous silicon

Michael J. Demkowicz and Ali S. Argon
Phys. Rev. B 72, 245205 – Published 20 December 2005

Abstract

Molecular-dynamics simulation of amorphous silicon (a-Si) using the Stillinger-Weber potential reveals the existence of two distinct atomic environments: one solidlike and the other liquidlike. The mechanical behavior of a-Si when plastically deformed to large strain can be completely described by the mass fraction ϕ of liquidlike material in it. Specifically, samples with higher ϕ are more amenable to plastic flow, indicating that liquidlike atomic environments act as plasticity “carriers” in a-Si. When deformed under externally applied constant pressure, all a-Si samples converge to a unique value of ϕ characteristic of steady-state flow.

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  • Received 29 April 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.72.245205

©2005 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Michael J. Demkowicz1,2,* and Ali S. Argon1

  • 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA
  • 2MST-8: Structure-Property Relations, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87545, USA

  • *Corresponding author. Email address: demkowicz@lanl.gov

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Vol. 72, Iss. 24 — 15 December 2005

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