Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 196, 35-43 (2011)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2011-01416-1

Regular Article

Molecular dynamics characterization of icosahedral short range order in undercooled copper

ENEA, C. R. Casaccia, via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy

^a e-mail: massimo.celino@enea.it

Received: 1 December 2010
Revised: 13 April 2011
Published online: 30 May 2011

Abstract

The stability of undercooled simple metals is still an intriguing problem for materials science and technology. There is not consensus on the role played by the icosahedral short range order during undercooling. The scenario is even less clear for undercooled metals under external pressure. Extensive molecular dynamics simulations, based on an empirical tight-binding interatomic potential, are performed to explain experimental results recently obtained on liquid and undercooled liquid copper. A common neighbour analysis is used to fully characterize the icosahedral short range order in both undercooled and liquid systems. Moreover, the effect of pressure on icosahedral short range order, is addressed and rationalized. External pressure increases the probability to find atomic bonds with icosahedral symmetry both in the liquid and in the undercooled copper.