Mechanisms of plastic deformation in amorphous silicon by atomistic simulation using the Stillinger-Weber potential

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2005.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Demkowicz, Michael J. (Michael John), 1977-
Other Authors: Ali S. Argon.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32384
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author Demkowicz, Michael J. (Michael John), 1977-
author2 Ali S. Argon.
author_facet Ali S. Argon.
Demkowicz, Michael J. (Michael John), 1977-
author_sort Demkowicz, Michael J. (Michael John), 1977-
collection MIT
description Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2005.
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spelling mit-1721.1/323842019-04-12T07:53:16Z Mechanisms of plastic deformation in amorphous silicon by atomistic simulation using the Stillinger-Weber potential Demkowicz, Michael J. (Michael John), 1977- Ali S. Argon. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Mechanical Engineering. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2005. Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-212). 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 [phi] of liquidlike material in it. Specifically, samples with higher [phi] are more amenable to plastic flow, indicating that liquidlike atomic environments act as plasticity "carriers" in a-Si. When deformed under constant pressure, all a-Si samples converge to a unique value of [phi] characteristic of steady state flow. Discrete stress relaxations were found to be the source of low-temperature plastic flow in a-Si in deformation simulations by potential energy minimization. These relaxations are triggered when a local yielding criterion is satisfied in a small cluster of atoms. The atomic rearrangements accompanying discrete stress relaxations are describable as autocatalytic avalanches of unit shearing events. Every such unit event centers on a clearly identifiable change in bond length between the two split peaks of the second nearest neighbor shell in the radial distribution function (RDF) of bulk a-Si in steady-state low. by Michael J. Demkowicz. Ph.D. 2006-03-29T18:39:38Z 2006-03-29T18:39:38Z 2005 2005 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32384 61660392 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 213 p. 11049635 bytes 11063137 bytes application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Mechanical Engineering.
Demkowicz, Michael J. (Michael John), 1977-
Mechanisms of plastic deformation in amorphous silicon by atomistic simulation using the Stillinger-Weber potential
title Mechanisms of plastic deformation in amorphous silicon by atomistic simulation using the Stillinger-Weber potential
title_full Mechanisms of plastic deformation in amorphous silicon by atomistic simulation using the Stillinger-Weber potential
title_fullStr Mechanisms of plastic deformation in amorphous silicon by atomistic simulation using the Stillinger-Weber potential
title_full_unstemmed Mechanisms of plastic deformation in amorphous silicon by atomistic simulation using the Stillinger-Weber potential
title_short Mechanisms of plastic deformation in amorphous silicon by atomistic simulation using the Stillinger-Weber potential
title_sort mechanisms of plastic deformation in amorphous silicon by atomistic simulation using the stillinger weber potential
topic Mechanical Engineering.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32384
work_keys_str_mv AT demkowiczmichaeljmichaeljohn1977 mechanismsofplasticdeformationinamorphoussiliconbyatomisticsimulationusingthestillingerweberpotential