Surface energy calculation of the fcc metals by using the MAEAM

Abstract

The surface energies of 40 surfaces for fcc metals Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au and Al have been calculated by using the MAEAM. The results show that, for all fcc metals, the surface energies of (110) are higher than that of the (100) and (111) surfaces, the order of three low-index surface energies is E ( 111 ) s < E ( 100 ) s < E ( 110 ) s . In all the ( h k l ) planes of fcc metals, the lowest surface energy corresponds to the (111) surface and the highest surface energy corresponds to the (210) surface except that, for Rh it is a (320) surface. So from surface energy minimization, the (111) texture should be favorable in the fcc films. The surface energy corresponding to the other surface increases linearly with increasing angle between the ( h k l ) planes and (111) plane by and large. This can be used to estimate the relative values of the surface energies.