Surface premelting of Cu(110)

Abstract

Disordering and melting of the surface of Cu(110) are investigated using molecular-dynamics simulations, in which the embedded-atom theory is used to describe the energetics and interatomic interactions. In addition, the bulk melting temperature and the properties of the crystal-to-melt interface at coexistence are studied. The surface region of the Cu(110) starts to disorder, via the generation of vacancies accompanied by the formation of an adlayer, at a temperature of about 900 K. At a temperature of ≃1200 K (i.e., about 80 K below bulk melting), the development of a quasiliquid region, exhibiting liquidlike energetic, structural, and transport properties, is observed. Analysis of the results, motivated by Landau-Ginzburg (mean-field) theories of surface melting, shows that the thickness of the quasiliquid layer increases logarithmically as the temperature approaches the melting point, with a correlation length of 4.3 Å.