No Arabic abstract
The fundamental interactions between an edge dislocation and a random solid solution are studied by analyzing dislocation line roughness profiles obtained from molecular dynamics simulations of Fe0.70Ni0.11 Cr0.19 over a range of stresses and temperatures. These roughness profiles reveal the hallmark features of a depinning transition. Namely, below a temperature-dependent critical stress, the dislocation line exhibits roughness in two different length scale regimes which are divided by a so-called correlation length. This correlation length increases with applied stress and at the critical stress (depinning transition or yield stress) formally goes to infinity. Above the critical stress, the line roughness profile converges to that of a random noise field. Motivated by these results, a physical model is developed based on the notion of coherent line bowing over all length scales below the correlation length. Above the correlation length, the solute field prohibits such coherent line bow outs. Using this model, we identify potential gaps in existing theories of solid solution strengthening and show that recent observations of length-dependent dislocation mobilities can be rationalized.
The stress-driven motion of dislocations in crystalline solids, and thus the ensuing plastic deformation process, is greatly influenced by the presence or absence of various point-like defects such as precipitates or solute atoms. These defects act as obstacles for dislocation motion and hence affect the mechanical properties of the material. Here we combine molecular dynamics studies with three-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics simulations in order to model the interaction between different kinds of precipitates and a $frac{1}{2}langle 1 1 1rangle$ ${1 1 0}$ edge dislocation in BCC iron. We have implemented immobile spherical precipitates into the ParaDis discrete dislocation dynamics code, with the dislocations interacting with the precipitates via a Gaussian potential, generating a normal force acting on the dislocation segments. The parameters used in the discrete dislocation dynamics simulations for the precipitate potential, the dislocation mobility, shear modulus and dislocation core energy are obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. We compare the critical stresses needed to unpin the dislocation from the precipitate in molecular dynamics and discrete dislocation dynamics simulations in order to fit the two methods together, and discuss the variety of the relevant pinning/depinning mechanisms.
We investigate a system of dense polyelectrolytes in solution. The Langevin dynamics of the system with linearized hydrodynamics is formulated in the functional integral formalism and a transformation made to collective coordinates. Within a dynamical Random Phase Approximation (RPA) integration over the counter- and salt ions produces the Debye-Huckel-like screening of the Coulomb interactions with dependence on the frequency only as part of a more complicated coupling structure. We investigate the dynamics of the structure factor as well as the collective diffusion coefficient and comment upon the viscosity of the whole system of polymers with counterions and fluid in the simplest approximation. The coupling of the various components of the system produces nontrivial diffusive behavior. We draw conclusions about the relationship of the three length scales in the present system, i.e. the static screening length, the hydrodynamic screening length and the Debye length.
When a quantum dot is subjected to a thermal gradient, the temperature of electrons entering the dot can be determined from the dots thermocurrent if the conductance spectrum and background temperature are known. We demonstrate this technique by measuring the temperature difference across a 15 nm quantum dot embedded in a nanowire. This technique can be used when the dots energy states are separated by many kT and will enable future quantitative investigations of electron-phonon interaction, nonlinear thermoelectric effects, and the effciency of thermoelectric energy conversion in quantum dots.
We investigate, both theoretically and experimentally, the drift, diffusion, and recombination of excitons in the strain field of an edge threading dislocation intersecting the GaN{0001} surface. We calculate and measure hyperspectral cathodoluminescence maps around the dislocation outcrop for temperatures between 10 to 200 K. Contrary to common belief, the cathodoluminescence intensity contrast is only weakly affected by exciton diffusion, but is caused primarily by exciton dissociation in the piezoelectric field at the dislocation outcrop. Hence, the extension of the dark spots around dislocations in the luminescence maps cannot be used to determine the exciton diffusion length. However, the cathodoluminescence energy contrast, reflecting the local bandgap variation in the dislocation strain field, does sensitively depend on the exciton diffusion length and hence enables its experimental determination.
Using small-angle neutron scattering, we demonstrate that the complex magnetic domain patterns at the surface of Nd2Fe14B, revealed by quantitative Kerr and Faraday microscopy, propagate into the bulk and exhibit structural features with dimensions down to 6 nm, the domain wall thickness. The observed fractal nature of the domain structures provides an explanation for the anomalous increase in the bulk magnetization of Nd2Fe14B below the spin-reorientation transition. These measurements open up a rich playground for studies of fractal structures in highly anisotropic magnetic systems.