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Title: Nontrivial nanostructure, stress relaxation mechanisms, and crystallography for pressure-induced Si-I → Si-II phase transformation
Abstract

Crystallographic theory based on energy minimization suggests austenite-twinned martensite interfaces with specific orientation, which are confirmed experimentally for various materials. Pressure-induced phase transformation (PT) from semiconducting Si-I to metallic Si-II, due to very large and anisotropic transformation strain, may challenge this theory. Here, unexpected nanostructure evolution during Si-I → Si-II PT is revealed by combining molecular dynamics (MD), crystallographic theory, generalized for strained crystals, and in situ real-time Laue X-ray diffraction (XRD). Twinned Si-II, consisting of two martensitic variants, and unexpected nanobands, consisting of alternating strongly deformed and rotated residual Si-I and third variant of Si-II, form$$\{111\}$${111}interface with Si-I and produce almost self-accommodated nanostructure despite the large transformation volumetric strain of$$-0.237$$0.237. The interfacial bands arrest the$$\{111\}$${111}interfaces, leading to repeating nucleation-growth-arrest process and to growth by propagating$$\{110\}$${110}interface, which (as well as$$\{111\}$${111}interface) do not appear in traditional crystallographic theory.

 
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Award ID(s):
1943710 1904830
NSF-PAR ID:
10363286
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Nature Publishing Group
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Nature Communications
Volume:
13
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2041-1723
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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