Atomic scale mechanisms and brittle to ductile transition at low size in silicon

S Brochard and FA El Nabi and L Pizzagalli and A Merabet and M Texier and C Tromas and J Godet, MATERIALS TODAY-PROCEEDINGS, 5, 14693-14704 (2018).

DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2018.03.059

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of silicon nanowires (NW) tensile deformation were performed. They reveal a great variety of behaviors, which are rationalized thanks to a diagram highlighting the sequences of elementary mechanisms. In particular, MD simulations show that cavity formation inside the NW can occur through dislocations interactions. To quantify the brittle/ductile character of the NWs for each tested conditions, we define a ductility parameter which is extracted from the simulation output. Its variation suggests that the brittle to ductile transition (BDT) at low size is not sharp, conversely to the well-known BDT for bulk silicon. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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