Atomic Diffusion in the (001) Surface of Cu₃Ag Ordered Alloy

Abstract

Both the formation and migration energies of a single vacancy migrating intra- and inter-layer of the CuAg-terminated (001) surface or Cu-terminated (001) surface for Cu3Ag ordered alloy have been calculated by using the modified analytical embedded-atom method (MAEAM) with the molecular dynamics (MD) method. The surface effects on the vacancy formation and migration are all down to 6L for the CuAg-terminated (001) surface, but is respectively down to 5L and 6L for the Cu-terminated (001) surface. The vacancy energetically formed in the 1L. There is a vacancy aggregation tendency in the 1L as well as in the bulk the Cu vacancy is easier to be formed than the Ag vacancy.