Abstract
Abstract Motivated by the ubiquitous role of clusters in film growth, we study the coalescence of metallic clusters (Ag, Cu and Pb), of size from 50 to 300 with an isothermal molecular dynamics simulation method using classical forces. The analysis is detailed. The melting behaviour of the isolated clusters is investigated for a broad range of sizes and the evolution of two clusters during a coalescence event is analysed in the light of the melting properties of the isolated cluster. A comparison with classical theories of sintering is also made. Evident failure of the macroscopic models appears from this comparison and this casts considerable doubt on the adequacy of continuum models to describe low-dimensional systems.
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