Molecular dynamics simulation of annihilation of 60° dislocations in Si crystals

Abstract

AbstractThe annihilation of two 60° shuffle dislocations is studied via the molecular dynamics method. The Stillinger–Weber (SW) potential and environment‐dependent interatomic potential (EDIP) are used to describe the atomic interactions. The simulation results show that the complete annihilation of the 60° dislocations takes place only when the two dislocations lie on the same slip plane. The annihilation process may occur without external shear stress when the temperature is higher than a critical value. It is found that the critical temperature increases exponentially as a function of distance between the two dislocations. Also revealed in this simulation is an incomplete annihilation occurring when the distance between the slip planes of the two dislocations is less than about 1 nm. If the distance between the two slip planes is larger than about 1 nm, the dislocations will glide on their own slip planes as if no interaction exists between them. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)