Calculation update! New properties have been added to the website for dislocation monopole core structures, dynamic relaxes of both crystal and liquid phases, and melting temperatures! Currently, the results for these properties predominately focus on EAM-style potentials, but the results will be updated for other potentials as the associated calculations finish. Feel free to give us feedback on the new properties so we can improve their representations as needed.
Warning! Note that elemental potentials taken from alloy descriptions may not work well for the pure species. This is particularly true if the elements were fit for compounds instead of being optimized separately. As with all interatomic potentials, please check to make sure that the performance is adequate for your problem.
Citation: F. Tavanti, B. Dianat, A. Catellani, and A. Calzolari (2020), "Hierarchical Short- and Medium-Range Order Structures in Amorphous GexSe1–x for Selectors Applications", ACS Applied Electronic Materials2(9), 2961-2969. DOI: 10.1021/acsaelm.0c00581.
Abstract: In the upcoming process to overcome the limitations of the standard von Neumann architecture, synaptic electronics is gaining a primary role for the development of in-memory computing. In this field, Ge-based compounds have been proposed as switching materials for nonvolatile memory devices and for selectors. By employing the classical molecular dynamics, we study the structural features of both the liquid states at 1500 K and the amorphous phase at 300 K of Ge-rich and Se-rich chalcogenides binary GexSe1-x systems in the range 0.4 ≤ x ≤ 0.6. The simulations rely on a model of interatomic potentials where ions interact through steric repulsion, as well as Coulomb and charge-dipole interactions given by the large electronic polarizability of Se ions. Our results indicate the formation of temperature-dependent hierarchical structures with short-range local orders and medium-range structures, which vary with the Ge content. Our work demonstrates that nanosecond-long simulations, not accessible via ab initio techniques, are required to obtain a realistic amorphous phase from the melt. Our classical molecular dynamics simulations are able to describe the profound structural differences between the melt and the glassy structures of GeSe chalcogenides. These results open to the understanding of the interplay between chemical composition, atomic structure, and electrical properties in switching materials.
Notes: This is part of a family of potentials designed to investigate liquid and amorphous solid structures of specific compositions. This particular potential was designed for Ge0.6Se0.4.