Amorphization and nanocrystallization of silicon under shock compression

Inelastic response of silicon to shock compression

The elastic and inelastic response of [001] oriented silicon to laser compression has been a topic of considerable discussion for well over a decade, yet there has been little progress in understanding the basic behaviour of this apparently simple material. We present experimental x-ray diffraction data showing complex elastic strain profiles in laser compressed samples on nanosecond timescales...

Strength of Polycrystalline Ceramics under Shock Compression

Nanoscale Molecular Dynamics Simulaton of Shock Compression of Silicon

We report results of molecular dynamics simulation of shock wave propagation in silicon in [100], [110], and [111] directions obtained using a classical environment-dependent interatomic potential (EDIP). Several regimes of materials response are classified as a function of shock wave intensity using the calculated shock Hugoniot. Shock wave structure in [100] and [111] directions exhibit usual...

Picosecond amorphization of SiO2 stishovite under tension

It is extremely difficult to realize two conflicting properties-high hardness and toughness-in one material. Nano-polycrystalline stishovite, recently synthesized from Earth-abundant silica glass, proved to be a super-hard, ultra-tough material, which could provide sustainable supply of high-performance ceramics. Our quantum molecular dynamics simulations show that stishovite amorphizes rapidly...

Irradiation-induced defect clustering and amorphization in silicon carbide

Previous computer simulations of multiple 10 keV Si cascades in 3C–SiC demonstrated that many damage-state properties exhibit relatively smooth, but noticeably different, dose dependencies. A more recent analysis of these damage-state properties, which includes additional data at low and intermediate doses, reveals more complex relationships between system energy, swelling, energy per defect, r...