Melting Kinetics of Confined Systems at the Nanoscale: Superheating and Supercooling

Journal Article · Tue Apr 10 00:00:00 EDT 2007 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2729834· OSTI ID:21055049

Sharp, I D; Xu, Q; Yuan, C W; Liao, C Y; Glaeser, A M; Chrzan, D C; Haller, E E ^[1]; Yi, D O ^[2]; Minor, A M ^[3]; Beeman, J W; Ager, III, J W ^[1]; Ridgway, M C; Kluth, P ^[4]

---

1. Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)
2. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)
3. National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)
4. Department of Electronic and Materials Engineering, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200 (Australia)

In situ electron diffraction measurements of silica-embedded Ge nanocrystals reveal a melting/solidification hysteresis of 470 K which is approximately symmetric about the bulk melting point. This surprising behavior, which is thought to be impossible in bulk systems, is well described by a simple, classical thermodynamic model. Surface pre-melting, which occurs for materials with free surfaces, is suppressed by the presence of the host matrix, thereby allowing both kinetic supercooling and kinetic superheating of the embedded nanocrystals.

• OSTI ID: 21055049
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 893, Issue 1; Conference: ICPS 2006: 28. international conference on the physics of semiconductors, Vienna (Austria), 24-28 Jul 2006; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2729834; (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
CRYSTALLOGRAPHY
CRYSTALS
ELECTRON DIFFRACTION
GERMANIUM
HEAT TRANSFER
HYSTERESIS
MELTING
MELTING POINTS
NANOSTRUCTURES
SILICA
SOLIDIFICATION
SUPERHEATING
SURFACES
THERMODYNAMICS