O-Si

Abstract: Silicon-oxygen compounds are among the most important ones in the natural sciences, occurring as building blocks in minerals and being used in semiconductors and catalysis. Beyond the well-known silicon dioxide, there are phases with different stoichiometric composition and nanostructured composites. One of the key challenges in understanding the Si-O system is therefore to accurately account for its nanoscale heterogeneity beyond the length scale of individual atoms. Here we show that a unified computational description of the full Si-O system is indeed possible, based on atomistic machine learning coupled to an active-learning workflow. We showcase applications to very-high-pressure silica, to surfaces and aerogels, and to the structure of amorphous silicon monoxide. In a wider context, our work illustrates how structural complexity in functional materials beyond the atomic and few-nanometre length scales can be captured with active machine learning.

Abstract: Silica (SiO₂) is an abundant material with a wide range of applications. Despite much progress, the atomistic modelling of the different forms of silica has remained a challenge. Here we show that by combining density-functional theory at the SCAN functional level with machine-learning-based interatomic potential fitting, a range of condensed phases of silica can be accurately described. We present a Gaussian approximation potential model that achieves high accuracy for the thermodynamic properties of the crystalline phases, and we compare its performance (and performance-cost trade-off) with that of multiple empirically fitted interatomic potentials for silica. We also include amorphous phases, assessing the ability of the potentials to describe structures of melt-quenched glassy silica, their energetic stability, and the high-pressure structural transition to a mainly sixfold-coordinated phase. We suggest that rather than standing on their own, machine-learned potentials for silica may be used in conjunction with suitable empirical models, each having a distinct role and complementing the other, by combining the advantages of the long simulation times afforded by empirical potentials and the near-quantum-mechanical accuracy of machine-learned potentials. This way, our work is expected to advance atomistic simulations of this key material and to benefit further computational studies in the field.

Abstract: An interatomic potential model that can simultaneously describe metallic, covalent, and ionic bonding is suggested by combining the second nearest-neighbor modified embedded-atom method (2NNMEAM) and the charge equilibration (Qeq) method, as a further improvement of a series of existing models. Paying special attention to the removal of known problems found in the original Qeq model, a mathematical form for the atomic energy is newly developed, and carefully selected computational techniques are adapted for energy minimization, summation of Coulomb interaction, and charge representation. The model is applied to the Ti-O and Si-O binary systems selected as representative oxide systems for a metallic element and a covalent element. The reliability of the present 2NNMEAM+Qeq potential is evaluated by calculating the fundamental physical properties of a wide range of titanium and silicon oxides and comparing them with experimental data, density functional theory calculations, and other calculations based on (semi-)empirical potential models.

Abstract: A parameter set for Tersoff potential has been developed to investigate the structural properties of Si-O systems. The potential parameters have been determined based on ab initio calculations of small molecules and the experimental data of α-quartz. The structural properties of various silica polymorphs calculated by using the new potential were in good agreement with their experimental data and ab initio calculation results. Furthermore, we have prepared SiO₂ glass using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations by rapid quenching of melted SiO₂. The radial distribution function and phonon density of states of SiO₂ glass generated by MD simulation were in excellent agreement with those of SiO₂ glass obtained experimentally.

Abstract: Current experimental research aims to reduce the size of quartz crystal oscillators into the submicrometer range. Devices then comprise multimillion atoms and operating frequencies will be in the gigahertz regime. Such characteristics make direct atomic scale simulation feasible using large scale parallel computing. Here, we describe molecular-dynamics simulations on bulk and nanoscale device systems focusing on elastic constants and flexural frequencies. Here we find (a) in order to achieve elastic constants within 1% of those of the bulk requires approximately one million atoms; precisely the experimental regime of interest; (b) differences from continuum mechanical frequency predictions are observable for 17 nm devices; (c) devices with 1% defects exhibit dramatic anharmonicity. A subsequent paper describes the direct atomistic simulation of operating characteristics of a micrometer scale device. A PAPS cosubmission gives algorithmic details.

Abstract: Large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of amorphous silica are carried out on systems containing up to 41472 particles using an effective interatomic potential consisting of two-body and three-body covalent interactions. The intermediate-range order represented by the first sharp diffraction peak (FSDP) in the neutron static structure factor shows a significant dependence on the system size. Correlations in the range 0.4–1.1 nm are found to play a vital role in determining the shape of the FSDP correctly. The calculated structure factor for the largest system is in excellent agreement with neutron diffraction experiments, including the height of the FSDP.

Abstract: An interaction potential consisting of two-body and three-body covalent interactions is proposed for SiO₂. The interaction potential is used in molecular-dynamics studies of structural and dynamical correlations of crystalline, molten, and vitreous states under various conditions of densities and temperatures. The two-body contribution to the interaction potential consists of steric repulsion due to atomic sizes, Coulomb interactions resulting from charge transfer, and charge-dipole interaction to include the effects of large electronic polarizability of anions. The three-body covalent contributions include O-Si-O and Si-O-Si interactions which are angle dependent and functions of Si-O distance. In lattice-structure calculations with the total potential function, α-cristobalite and α-quartz are found to have the lowest and almost degenerate energies, in agreement with experiments. The energies for β-cristobalite, β-quartz, and keatite are found to be higher than those for α-cristobalite and α-quartz. Molecular-dynamics calculations with this potential function correctly describe the short- and intermediate-range order in molten and vitreous states.\nIn the latter, partial pair-distribution functions give Si-O, O-O, and Si-Si bond lengths of 1.62, 2.65, and 3.05 Å, respectively. The vitreous state consists of nearly ideal Si(O_1/2)₄ tetrahedra in corner-sharing configurations. The Si-O-Si bond-angle distribution has a peak at 142° and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 25° in good agreement with nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. The calculated static structure factor is also in agreement with neutron-diffraction experiments. Partial static structure factors reveal that intermediate-range Si-Si, O-O, and Si-O correlations between 4 and 8 Å give rise to the first sharp diffraction peak (FSDP). The FSDP is absent in charge-charge structure factor, which indicates that charge neutrality prevails over length scales between 4 and 8 Å. Dynamical correlations in vitreous and molten states, phonon densities of states of crystalline and vitreous SiO₂, infrared spectra of crystalline, vitreous and molten states, isotope effect, distribution of rings and their structure in molten and vitreous states, and structural transformations at high pressures will be discussed in subsequent papers.