Structures and energies of twist grain boundaries in Mg[formula omitted]SiO4 forsterite

Abstract

In this work, we investigate twist grain boundary (GB) energies and structures in Mg2SiO4 forsterite using atomistic simulations. We first present a new bond orientational order parameter allowing to highlight disordered regions in this low-symmetry crystal for which classical visualization tools are ineffective. Then we examine three GB planes, (010), (120) and (001), corresponding to the most favorable free surfaces of this crystal. We show that twist GB follow the same energy ordering as corresponding free surfaces. In addition, except for some misorientation angles and for the (120) GB plane, GB energies and structures are quite insensitive to microscopic translational degrees of freedom. The dislocation composition of low-angle twist GB can be related to γ-surfaces in the corresponding planes, and are in good agreement with first-principle calculations. It is also shown that the dislocation core structures in low angle twist GB can strongly differ from the ones of intracrystalline dislocations.