Physics of solid and liquid alkali halide surfaces near the melting point

Crystal structures of model lithium halides in bulk phase and in clusters

We employ lattice energy calculations and molecular dynamics simulations to compare the stability of wurtzite and rock salt crystal structures of four lithium halides (LiF, LiCl, LiBr, and LiI) modeled using the Tosi-Fumi and Joung-Cheatham potentials, which are models frequently used in simulation studies. Both infinite crystals and finite clusters are considered. For the Tosi-Fumi model, we find that all four salts prefer the wurtzite structure both at 0 K and at finite temperatures, in disagreement with experiments, where rock salt is the stable structure and wurtzite exists as a metastable state. For Joung-Cheatham potentials, rock salt is more stable for LiF and LiCl, but the wurtzite structure is preferred by LiBr and LiI. It is clear that the available lithium halide force fields need improvement to bring them into better accord with the experiment. Finite-size clusters that are more stable as rock salt in the bulk phase tend to solidify as small rock salt crystals. However, small clusters of salts that prefer the wurtzite structure as bulk crystals tend to form structures that have hexagonal motifs, but are not finite-size wurtzite crystals. We show that small wurtzite structures are unstable due to the presence of a dipole and rearrange into more stable, size-dependent structures. We also show that entropic contributions can act in favor of the wurtzite structure at higher temperatures. The possible relevance of our results for simulation studies of crystal nucleation from melts and/or aqueous solutions is discussed.

Irreducible finite-size effects in the surface free energy of NaCl crystals from crystal-nucleation data

In this Letter we report a simulation study in which we compare the solid-liquid interfacial free energy of NaCl at coexistence, gamma_{LS}, with the value that follows from the height of the homogeneous nucleation barrier. The two estimates differ by more than 100%. Smaller discrepancies are found for gamma_{LS} of hard-sphere and of Lennard-Jones particles. We consider a variety of possible causes for this discrepancy and conclude that it is due to a finite-size effect that cannot be corrected for by any simple thermodynamic procedure. By taking into account the finite-size effects of gamma_{LS} obtained in real nucleation experiments, we obtain quantitative agreement between gamma_{LS} estimated in the simulations and derived from the experiments. Our finding suggests that most published solid-liquid surface free energies derived from nucleation experiments will have to be revised.

Peak effect versus skating in high-temperature nanofriction

The physics of sliding nanofriction at high temperature near the substrate melting point, TM, is so far unexplored. We conducted simulations of hard tips sliding on a prototype non-melting surface, NaCl(100), revealing two distinct and opposite phenomena for ploughing and for grazing friction in this regime. We found a frictional drop close to TM for deep ploughing and wear, but on the contrary a frictional rise for grazing, wearless sliding. For both phenomena, we obtain a fresh microscopic understanding, relating the former to 'skating' through a local liquid cloud, and the latter to linear response properties of the free substrate surface. We argue that both phenomena occur more generally on surfaces other than NaCl and should be pursued experimentally. Most metals, in particular those possessing one or more close-packed non-melting surfaces, such as Pb, Al or Au(111), are likely to behave similarly.

Solid–liquid transitions of sodium chloride at high pressures

We investigate solid-liquid transitions in NaCl at high pressures using molecular dynamics simulations, including the melting curve and superheating/supercooling as well as solid-solid and liquid-liquid transitions. The first-order B1-B2 (NaCl-CsCl type) transition in solid is observed at high pressures besides continuous liquid structure transitions, which are largely analogous to the B1-B2 transition in solid. The equilibrium melting temperatures (T(m)) up to megabar pressure are obtained from the solid-liquid coexistence technique and the superheating-supercooling hysteresis method. Lindemann's vibrational and Born's mechanical instabilities are found upon melting. The Lindemann frequency is calculated from the vibrational density of states. The Lindemann parameter (fractional root-mean-squared displacement) increases with pressure and approaches a constant asymptotically, similar to the Lennard-Jones system. However, the Lindemann melting relation holds for both B1 and B2 phases to high accuracy as for the Lennard-Jonesium. The B1 and B2 NaCl solids can be superheated by 0.18T(m) and 0.24T(m), and the NaCl liquid, supercooled by 0.22T(m) and 0.32T(m), respectively, at heating or cooling rates of 1 K/s and 1 K/ps. The amount of maximum superheating or supercooling and its weak pressure dependence observed for NaCl are in accord with experiments on alkali halides and with simulations on the Lennard-Jones system and Al.