Related papers: Local structure and defect segregation on the tilt…
The interfacial structure of a silicon grain boundary (Si-GB) plays a decisive role on its chemical functionalization and has implications in diverse physical-chemical properties of the material. Therefore, GB interface is particularly…
The macroscopic behavior of polycrystalline materials is influenced by the local variation of properties caused by the presence of impurities and defects. The effect of these impurities at the atomic scale can either embrittle or strengthen…
While computational methods for the study of point defects in materials have received significant attention, methods for the investigation of grain boundaries require further development. In this study, we applied a genetic algorithm to…
Multi-crystalline silicon is widely used for producing low-cost and high-efficiency solar cells. During crystal growth and device fabrication, silicon solar cells contain grain boundaries (GBs) which are preferential segregation sites for…
Grain boundaries (GBs) are defects originating in multi-crystalline silicon during crystal growth for device Si solar cell fabrication. The presence of GBs changes the coordination of Si, making it advantageous for charge carriers to…
Engineering structure of grain boundaries (GBs) by solute segregation is a promising strategy to tailor the properties of polycrystalline materials. Theoretically it has been suggested that solute segregation can trigger phase transitions…
We present the results of first-principles calculations of selected structural and thermodynamic properties of a set of grain boundaries (GBs) in zirconium, spanning a range of misorientation angles and boundary planes. We performed…
Understanding how dislocation structures vary with grain boundary (GB) characters enables accurate controls of interfacial nano-patterns. In this atomistic study, we report the structure-property correlations of Si (001) small angle mixed…
The atomistic structure and energetics of the Sigma 13 (10-14)[1-210] symmetrical tilt grain boundary in alpha-Al2O3 are studied by first-principles calculations based on the local-density-functional theory with a mixed-basis…
Grain boundaries have extensive influence on the performance of crystal materials. However, the atomic-scale structure and its relation with local and crystallographic symmetries remain elusive in low-symmetry crystals. Herein, we find that…
Segregation to defects, in particular to grain boundaries (GBs), is an unavoidable phenomenon leading to changed material behavior over time. With the increase of available computational power, unbiased quantum-mechanical predictions of…
Segregation of impurities to grain boundaries plays an important role in both the stability and macroscopic behavior of polycrystalline materials. The research objective in this work is to better characterize the energetics and length…
Grain boundaries can exist as different grain boundary phases (also called complexions) with individual atomic structures. The thermodynamics of these defect phases in high-angle grain boundaries were studied mostly with atomistic and phase…
The bonding properties of tilt boundary in poly-silicon and the effect of interstitial impurities are investigated by first-principles. In order to obtain thorough information on the nature of chemical bondings in these solid systems, an…
First-principles calculations were carried out to study the segregation behavior of Mg, and Cu and their effect on the energy and mechanical properties of different Al grain boundaries (GBs). Four symmetrical tilt GBs were selected for…
The theoretical study of grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline semiconductors is currently stalemated by their complicated nature, which is difficult to extract from any direct experimental characterization. Usually,…
Grain boundary (GB) segregation is a powerful approach for optimizing the thermal and mechanical properties of metal alloys. In this study, we report significant GB interstitial segregation in a representative substitutional binary alloy…
One of the major challenges towards understanding and further utilizing the properties and functional behaviors of grain boundaries (GB) is the complexity of general GBs with mixed tilt and twist characters. Here, we report the correlations…
Grain boundaries (GBs) in complex oxides play critical roles in governing their functional properties, which are intrinsically linked to their three-dimensional (3D) atomic configurations and local chemical environments that can deviate…
Defects such as grain boundaries (GBs) are almost inevitable during the synthesis process of 2D materials. To take advantage of the fascinating properties of 2D materials, understanding the nature and impact of various GB structures on the…