Premium
On the Influence of Elastic Strains on Crystallization Processes in Solids. II. Formation of Clusters near and at Interfaces
Author(s) -
Möller J.,
Schmelzer J.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/pssb.2221800205
Subject(s) - nucleation , cluster (spacecraft) , crystallization , elastic energy , planar , surface energy , surface (topology) , matrix (chemical analysis) , materials science , crystallography , independence (probability theory) , energy (signal processing) , physics , chemical physics , chemistry , thermodynamics , geometry , composite material , mathematics , quantum mechanics , computer graphics (images) , statistics , computer science , programming language
Abstract Deformations due to the formation of a spherically shaped cluster near a planar free surface are analysed. The dependence of the mechanical energy contained in these deformations on the cluster distance from the surface is computed analytically. The energy is found to be lower for clusters near the surface. Results are obtained for the energy of clusters formed immediately at the surface. It turns out that the lowest value of the elastic energy for clusters of given volume is found for hemispherical clusters. As intermediate steps in the derivation, the independence of the elastic energy of the cluster shape for clusters in an infinite matrix and the general absence of elastic interactions are reconfirmed, provided matrix and cluster are characterized by the same elastic constants. These results explain in this way a number of observations, for example, surface nucleation and surface crystallization.