Investigating the kinetics of the formation of a C Cottrell atmosphere around a screw dislocation in bcc iron: a mixed-lattice atomistic kinetic Monte-Carlo analysis

We present a mixed-lattice atomistic kinetic Monte-Carlo algorithm (MLKMC) that integrates a rigid-lattice AKMC approach with the kinetic activation-relaxation technique (k-ART), an off-lattice/self-learning AKMC. This approach opens the door to study large and complex systems adapting the cost of identification and evaluation of transition states to the local environment. To demonstrate its capacity, MLKMC is applied to the problem of the formation of a C Cottrell atmosphere decorating a screw dislocation in α-Fe. For this system, transitions that occur near the dislocation core are searched by k-ART, while transitions occurring far from the dislocation are computed before the simulation starts using the rigid-lattice AKMC. This combination of the precision of k-ART and the speed of the rigid-lattice makes it possible to follow the onset of the C Cottrell atmosphere and to identify interesting mechanisms associated with its formation.

A model of defect cluster creation in fragmented cascades in metals based on morphological analysis

The impacts of ions and neutrons in metals cause cascades of atomic collisions that expand and shrink, leaving microstructure defect debris, i.e. interstitial or vacancy clusters or loops of different sizes. In De Backer et al (2016 Europhys. Lett. 115 26001), we described a method to detect the first morphological transition, i.e. the cascade fragmentation in subcascades, and a model of primary damage combining the binary collision approximation and molecular dynamics (MD). In this paper including W, Fe, Be, Zr and 20 other metals, we demonstrate that the fragmentation energy increases with the atomic number and decreases with the atomic density following a unique power law. Above the fragmentation energy, the cascade morphology can be characterized by the cross pair correlation functions of the multitype point pattern formed by the subcascades. We derive the numbers of pairs of subcascades and observed that they follow broken power laws. The energy where the power law breaks indicates the second morphological transition when cascades are formed by branches decorated by chaplets of small subcascades. The subcascade interaction is introduced in our model of primary damage by adding pairwise terms. Using statistics obtained on hundreds of MD cascades in Fe, we demonstrate that the interaction of subcascades increases the proportion of large clusters in the damage created by high energy cascades. Finally, we predict the primary damage of 500 keV Fe ion in Fe and obtain cluster size distributions when large statistics of MD cascades are not feasible.

Interaction between interstitial carbon atoms and a ½ 〈1 1 1〉 self-interstitial atoms loop in an iron matrix: a combined DFT, off lattice KMC and MD study

A static and kinetic study of the interaction between a 19 ½ 〈1 1 1〉 self-interstitial atoms loop and C atoms in body-centred cubic iron is presented in this work. An empirical potential matching the density functional theory calculations is used to study the static properties of the system. The usual kinetic Monte-Carlo (KMC) on-lattice restriction is not valid when the material is highly distorted, especially in the presence of a dislocation loop. Therefore, the dynamics of the system are investigated using both molecular dynamics simulations and k-ART, a self-learning/off-lattice atomic kinetic monte-carlo. The presented work is thus a full study of the C-loop and the C2-loop systems. A good agreement is observed between the statics and the kinetics (e.g. the discovery of a zone of stability of the C atom around the Fe cluster where the C can almost freely move), even though the kinetics show some unexpected behaviours of the studied systems. The pinning time of the loop induced by the C atoms is also estimated.

Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations of Fecu Alloys

The steel vessels of pressurized water reactors are embrittled by neutron irradiation. It is well known that copper atoms play an important role in the embrittlement and that different Cu- containing defects such as Cu-rich clusters (sometimes called atmospheres), Cu precipitates and Cu-vacancy complexes have been identified experimentally. It is still difficult to link the formation of these defects to the primary damage resulting from the neutron inducing displacement cascades. Therefore, we investigate the evolution of the primary damage in FeCu alloys using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations based on a vacancy diffusion mechanism. The calculations rely on adapted, phenomenological, n-body potentials that satisfactorily reproduce properties of FeCu. At room temperature, experimentally identified defects such as Cu-vacancy complexes (one Cu atom bound to three or four vacancies) form in the course of our simulations. Furthermore, it appears that complex defects such as a Cu atom linked to two vacancies are very mobile and are responsible for the formation of small Cu clusters.

Theoretical first step towards an understanding of the uranyl ion sorption on the rutile TiO2(110) face: A DFT periodic and cluster study

First results of a periodic and cluster Density Functional Theory (DFT) study of the uranyl ion (UO2 2+) sorption onto the rutile TiO2(110) face, based on plane wave and localised basis sets, are presented. A five layers slab with its most internal layer frozen to bulk positions was found to be a good surface model. In a first step and as reference data for the sorption process, the [UO2(H2O)n]2+ systems, with n=4 to 6 were studied. Relative solvation energies confirmed that the uranyl ion adopt a pentacoordinated structure in aqueous solution. From localised approach, an overall 0.91 electron transfer from the first hydration shell to the uranyl ion was calculated. Then, a periodic study of the uranyl sorption on a simplified hydroxylated TiO2(110) surface model was investigated. The resulting optimised structural parameters, for the three possible adsorption sites, show that the sorbed uranyl ion first coordination shell (saturated by three water molecules) plays an important role to model the adsorption process. Both methodologies (plane waves and localised atomic orbitals) were also used with a cluster model and gave similar results in agreement with experimental data. This first step in the understanding of the uranyl ion sorption onto the simplified hydroxylated TiO2(110) surface shows that hydrogen bonds should be included in the model in order to perform a more accurate description of the uranyl ion sorption process. A study with this surface model is currently performed in order to calculate the relative stabilities between the different uranyl adsorption sites and to compare with the experimental data.

Ferromagnetic compounds for high efficiency photovoltaic conversion: the case of AlP:Cr

The photovoltaic conversion efficiency in usual semiconductors is limited to 30% while thermodynamics sets an upper limit of above 70%. Here we show how efficiencies in the 50% range could be achieved using carefully chosen magnetic doping in wide gap semiconductors. To meet the requirement to obtain useful compounds we propose rules and a selection method based on ab initio calculations coupled with material efficiency predictions. As a result of an investigation over hundreds of compounds, AlP:Cr was found to be the most promising semiconductor.

Self-trapped interstitial-type defects in iron

Small interstitial-type defects in iron with complex structures and very low mobilities are revealed by molecular dynamics simulations. The stability of these defect clusters formed by nonparallel {110} dumbbells is confirmed by density functional theory calculations, and it is shown to increase with increasing temperature due to large vibrational formation entropies. This new family of defects provides an explanation for the low mobility of clusters needed to account for experimental observations of microstructure evolution under irradiation at variance with the fast migration obtained from previous atomistic simulations for conventional self-interstitial clusters.

Towards improved photovoltaic conversion using dilute magnetic semiconductors (abstract only)

Present photovoltaic devices, based on p/n junctions, are limited from first principles to maximal efficiencies of 31% (40% under full solar concentration; Shockley and Queisser 1961 J. Appl. Phys. 32 510). However, more innovative schemes may overcome the Shockley-Queisser limit since the theoretical maximal efficiency of solar energy conversion is higher than 85% (Harder and Würfel 2003 Semicond. Sci. Technol. 18 S151). To date, the only practical realization of such an innovative scheme has been multi-junction devices, which at present hold the world record for efficiency at nearly 41% at significant solar concentration (US DOE news site: http://www.energy.gov/news/4503.htm). It has been proposed that one could make use of the solar spectrum in much the same way as the multi-junction devices do but in a single cell, using impurity induced intermediate levels to create gaps of different sizes. This intermediate level semiconductor (ILSC) concept (Green and Wenham 1994 Appl. Phys. Lett. 65 2907; Luque and Martí1997 Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 5014) has a maximal efficiency similar to that of multi-junction devices but suffers from prohibitively large non-radiative recombination rates. We here propose to use a ferromagnetic impurity scheme in order to reduce the non-radiative recombination rates while maintaining the high theoretical maximum efficiency of the ILSC scheme, that is about 46%. Using density functional theory calculations, the electronic and energetic properties of transition metal impurities for a wide range of semiconductors have been analysed. Of the several hundred compounds studied, only a few fulfil the design criteria that we present here. As an example, wide gap AlP is one of the most promising compounds. It was found that inclusion of significant amounts of Mn in AlP induces band structures providing conversion efficiencies potentially close to the theoretical maximum, with an estimated Curie temperature reaching above 100 K.

Density functional calculations on structural materials for nuclear energy applications and functional materials for photovoltaic energy applications (abstract only)

Ab initio density functional theory calculations are carried out in order to predict the evolution of structural materials under aggressive working conditions such as cases with exposure to corrosion and irradiation, as well as to predict and investigate the properties of functional materials for photovoltaic energy applications. Structural metallic materials used in nuclear facilities are subjected to irradiation which induces the creation of large amounts of point defects. These defects interact with each other as well as with the different elements constituting the alloys, which leads to modifications of the microstructure and the mechanical properties. VASP (Vienna Ab initio Simulation Package) has been used to determine the properties of point defect clusters and also those of extended defects such as dislocations. The resulting quantities, such as interaction energies and migration energies, are used in larger scale simulation methods in order to build predictive tools. For photovoltaic energy applications, ab initio calculations are used in order to search for new semiconductors and possible element substitutions for existing ones in order to improve their efficiency.