Adatom mobility for the solid-on-solid model

The relaxation of a crystal surface through surface diffusion is studied within the solid-on-solid model. Two types of (conserved) dynamics are considered. ForArrhenius dynamics we show that the relevant transport coefficient, the adatom mobility, has a simple analytic form: It is independent of orientation, and depends exponentially on the inverse temperature, for any surface dimensionalityd. Together with the expression for the orientation-dependent stiffness this completely determines the macroscopic evolution equation for the surface. The predictions of the macroscopic theory are checked against simulations of profile evolution and roughening ind=1. For one-dimensionalMetropolis dynamics we provide an upper bound on the adatom mobility and obtain numerical estimates of its actual value, which indicate a nontrivial orientation dependence in this case. An alternative derivation of the macroscopic dynamics directly from the master equation is presented and discussed in relation to previous approximate work.Dedicated to Professor H. Wagner on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Monte Carlo investigation of the phase transition in the 2D Potts model with open boundary conditions

Finite size effects on the phase transition in the 2D Potts model with open boundary conditions are studied with Wang-Landau Monte Carlo simulations. We show the lattice size dependent cross-over from first order to continuous phase transition and discuss it in terms of surface induced disorder and size dependence of the latent heat.     

Reaction products and oxide thickness formed by Ti out-diffusion and oxidization in poly-Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si with oxide films deposited

In the paper, we present experimental results to enhance the understanding of Ti out-diffusion and oxidization in commercial poly-Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si wafers with perovskite oxide films deposited when heat-treated in flowing oxygen ambient. It indicates that when heat-treated at 550 and 600 °C, PtTi₃+PtTi and PtTi are the reaction products from interfacial interaction, respectively; while heat-treated at 650 °C and above, the products become three layers of titanium oxides instead of the alloys. Confirmed to be rutile TiO₂, the first two layers spaced by 65 nm encapsulate the Pt surface by the first layer with 60 nm thick forming at its surface and by the next layer with 35 nm thick inserting its original layer. In addition, the next layer is formed as a barrier to block up continuous diffusion paths of Ti, and thus results in the last layer of TiO_2−x formed by the residual Ti oxidizing.     

Effective-field theory of the Ising model with three alternative layers on the honeycomb and square lattices

The Ising model with three alternative layers on the honeycomb and square lattices is studied by using the effective-field theory with correlations. We consider that the nearest-neighbor spins of each layer are coupled ferromagnetically and the adjacent spins of the nearest-neighbor layers are coupled either ferromagnetically or anti-ferromagnetically depending on the sign of the bilinear exchange interactions. We investigate the thermal variations of the magnetizations and present the phase diagrams. The phase diagrams contain the paramagnetic, ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic phases, and the system also exhibits a tricritical behavior.     

Absorbing phase transition in contact process on fractal lattices

We investigate the critical behavior of nonequilibrium phase transition from an active phase to an absorbing state on two selected fractal lattices, i.e., on a checkerboard fractal and on a Sierpinski carpet. The checkerboard fractal is finitely ramified with many dead ends, while the Sierpinski carpet is infinitely ramified. We measure various critical exponents of the contact process with a diffusion-reaction scheme A→AA and A→0, characterized by a spreading with a rate λ and an annihilation with a rate μ, and the results are confirmed by a crossover scaling and a finite-size scaling. The exponents, compared with the ?-expansion results assuming , being the fractal dimension of the underlying fractal lattice, exhibit significant deviations from the analytical results for both the checkerboard fractal and the Sierpinski carpet. On the other hand, the exponents on a checkerboard fractal agree well with the interpolated results of the regular lattice for the fractional dimensionality, while those on a Sierpinski carpet show marked deviations.     

Generic two-phase coexistence, relaxation kinetics, and interface propagation in the quadratic contact process: Analytic studies

The quadratic contact process is implemented as an adsorption-desorption model on a two-dimensional square lattice. The model involves random adsorption at empty sites, and correlated desorption requiring diagonal pairs of empty neighbors. A simulation study of this model [D.-J. Liu, X. Guo, J.W. Evans, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 (2007) 050601] revealed the existence of generic two-phase coexistence between a low-coverage active steady-state and a completely covered absorbing state. Here, an analytic treatment of model behavior is developed based on truncation approximations to the exact master equations. Applying this approach for spatially homogeneous states, we characterize steady-state behavior as well as the kinetics of relaxation to the steady-states. Extending consideration to spatially inhomogeneous states, we obtain discrete reaction-diffusion type equations characterizing evolution. These are employed to analyze an orientation-dependence of the propagation of planar interfaces between active and absorbing states which underlies the generic two-phase coexistence. We also describe the dynamics and critical forms of planar perturbations of the active state and of droplets of one phase embedded in the other.     

Magnetic properties of an anti-ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic mixed spin-1/2 and spin-5/2 Ising model in the longitudinal magnetic field within the effective-field approximation

The magnetic properties of an anti-ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic mixed spin-1/2 and spin-5/2 Ising model with a crystal field in a longitudinal magnetic field on the honeycomb (z=3) and square lattice (z=4) are studied by using the effective-field theory with correlations. The ground state phase diagram of the model is obtained in the longitudinal magnetic field (h) and a single-ion potential or crystal-field interaction (Δ) plane. We also investigate the thermal variations of the sublattice and total magnetizations, and present the phase diagrams in the (Δ/|J|, ) plane. The phase diagrams have one, two or even three compensation temperatures depending on the values of the crystal-field interaction. Moreover, the susceptibility, internal energy and specific heat of the system are numerically examined, and some interesting phenomena in these quantities are found due to the applied longitudinal magnetic field.     

Ising model with mixed boundary conditions: Universal amplitude ratios

In the vicinity of boundaries the bulk universality class of critical phenomena splits into several boundary universality classes, depending upon whether the tendency to order in the boundary is smaller or larger than in the bulk. For Ising universality class there are five different boundary universality classes: periodic, antiperiodic, free, fixed and mixed (mixture of the last two). In this paper we present the new set of the universal amplitude ratios for the mixed boundary universality class. The results are in perfect agreement with a perturbated conformal field theory scenario proposed by Cardy [J. Cardy, Nucl. Phys. B 270 (1986) 186].     

Nonequilibrium work fluctuations in a driven Ising model

Monte Carlo simulations of a sheared Ising model are used to study nonequilibrium fluctuations of mechanical work. The validity of the transient (starting from equilibrium) and the steady state fluctuation relations is verified. A fluctuation relation has been also shown to hold for the mechanical work done on the system, during the transition between two nonequilibrium steady states corresponding to different drivings.     

The estimates of correlations in two-dimensional Ising model

We investigate the correlation inequalities and the decay of correlations of stochastic Ising model in a rectangle with side length 2L×K(LlnL)^1/2, where K is some positive constant. With different boundary conditions, at inverse temperature β>β_c or β<β_c and zero external field, we show some estimates of the correlation functions for the two-dimensional Ising model.     

Renormalized vertex modification of Hall conductivity for dilute magnetic alloys

By means of the renormalized vertex procedure for the motion of Green's function developed by the authors, the vertex function of magnetic alloys, based on thes-d exchange interaction, is solved exactly and the corresponding Hall conductivity tensors are obtained. It is found that the value of the renormalized Hall conductivity is (1+h ²)^–1 times less than that before the renormalization (hereh is a reduced magnetic field). It is shown that the renormalized modification of the conductivity is very important in the cases with not too weak external magnetic field and slow relaxation time.     

Antiferromagnetic model and magnetization plateaus on the zigzag ladder with two- and three-site exchanges

The Ising approximation is proposed for the Heisenberg model with two- and three-spin exchange interactions on a zigzag ladder placed in a strong magnetic field. Using the transfer matrix technique the magnetization is calculated and compared with the results obtained in the dynamical recursive approach. Magnetization plateaus are found at m=0 and with the two- and three-spin exchanges. The magnetic susceptibility in small and large zigzag ladders for various exchange parameters and temperatures is also analyzed. As temperature decreases the magnetic susceptibility versus magnetic field shows the formation of spin pseudogaps and transformation from double to four peak structure. Small clusters also exhibit characteristic features of large thermodynamic systems.     

Boundary conditions and amplitude ratios for finite-size corrections of a one-dimensional quantum spin model

We study the influence of boundary conditions on the finite-size corrections of a one-dimensional (1D) quantum spin model by exact and perturbative theoretic calculations. We obtain two new infinite sets of universal amplitude ratios for the finite-size correction terms of the 1D quantum spin model of N sites with free and antiperiodic boundary conditions. The results for the lowest two orders are in perfect agreement with a perturbative conformal field theory scenario proposed by Cardy [J. Cardy, Nucl. Phys. B 270 (1986) 186].     

High-temperature series expansion for the relaxation times of the two dimensional Ising model

We derive the high temperature series expansions for the two relaxation times of the single spin-flip kinetic Ising model on the square lattice. The series for the linear relaxation time _l is obtained with 20 non-trivial terms, and the analysis yields 2.183±0.005 as the value of the critical exponent _l , which is equal to the dynamical critical exponentz in the two-dimensional case. For the non-linear relaxation time we obtain 15 non-trivial terms, and the analysis leads to the results _nl = 2.08 ± 0.07. The scaling relation _l – _nl = ( being the exponent of the order parameter) seems to be fulfilled, though the error bars of _nl are still quite substantial. In addition, we obtain the series expansion of the linear relaxation time on the honeycomb lattice with 22 non-trivial terms. The result for the critical exponent is close to the value obtained on the square lattice, which is expected from universality.     

Formation of interface bubbles in bonded silicon wafers: A thermodynamic model

A thermodynamic model of the formation of unbonded areas or bubbles generated at the interface of bonded silicon wafers in the temperature range of 200–800°C is presented. Within this model it is assumed that the desorption of hydrocarbon contamination at the silicon wafer surfaces leads to small hydrocarbon molecules which are mobile at the bonding interface. When the vapor pressure generated by these molecules overcomes the interface bonding strength, interface bubbles are nucleated. These bubbles grow by incorporating further hydrocarbon and also possible hydrogen molecules. The model semiquantitatively explains all the essential features of interface bubble formation observed experimentally.     

Discretization effect in a multi-grid egress model

In the traditional egress model based on cellular automata, building spaces are divided into discrete grids, the size of which is usually as large as that of a pedestrian. In order to explore the influences of the grid size on the evacuation results, we studied the evacuation process using a multi-grid egress model. In the multi-grid model, a finer grid is used and each pedestrian occupies n×n basic grids. It is found that if the pedestrian always moves one grid at each time step, the evacuation time increases with the decrease of the grid size, and reaches a stable, grid-independent value when the grid size is small enough. Another factor which influences the evacuation results is the length of the time step. It is found that with the increasing length of the time step, the evacuation time has a tendency to increase but endures complex changes. The differences between the single-grid model and multi-grid model may be due to two main reasons. First, in the multi-grid model, the pedestrians are out of alignment so that there are patches of unusable empty spaces as they are smaller in size than a pedestrian. Second, in the multi-grid model, pedestrians tend to reach the exit at the same time, leading to more serious conflicts among pedestrians.     

Classical two-site fidelity and quantum phase transitions in the Ising model and the extended Hubbard model

In this Letter, the classical two-site-ground-state fidelity (CTGF) is exploited to identify quantum phase transitions (QPTs) for the transverse field Ising model (TFIM) and the one-dimensional extended Hubbard model (EHM). Our results show that the CTGF exhibits an abrupt change around the regions of criticality and can be used to identify QPTs in spin and fermionic systems. The method is especially convenient when it is connected with the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm.     

Critical behavior of the 3D Ising model on a poissonian random lattice

The single-cluster Monte Carlo algorithm and the reweighting technique are used to simulate the 3D ferromagnetic Ising model on 3D Voronoi-Delauney lattices. It is assumed that the coupling factor J varies with the distance r between the first neighbors as J(r)∝e^−ar, with a≥0. The critical exponents γ/ν, β/ν, and ν are calculated, and according to the present estimates for the critical exponents, we argue that this random system belongs to the same universality class of the pure 3D ferromagnetic Ising model.     

Surface topography problem and argon adsorption on crystalline faces: Monte-Carlo and lattice-gas model simulations

The lattice-gas model in the quasi-chemical approximation (QCA) was used for adsorption isotherms and heats of adsorption calculations. The theory considers the surface topography, taking into account the atomic surface structure and the occupancy correlation of different adsorption sites. A comparison between Monte-Carlo and QCA simulations of the adsorption isotherms for argon atoms on three faces (1 1 0), (1 0 0) and (1 0 1) of rutile shows that both techniques give rather similar results with the advantage of QCA calculations being performed in a fraction of the time necessary for the Monte-Carlo simulation.     

Study on wettabilities and platelet adhesion behavior of C:H and C:N:H films prepared by DC-MFCVA

The C:H and C:N:H films were prepared by direct current magnetic filtered cathodic vacuum arc deposition (DC-MFCVA) at room temperature (RT). Raman spectra were used to analyze structure of films. The surface energy and interfacial tension of the films were calculated by contact angle measure using four common liquids. Platelet adhesion experiment in vitro was done to characterize anticoagulant property of the synthesized films from an aspect. The results showed that the doping of N and H element could decrease interfacial tension of DLC films. The synthesized DLC have good anticoagulant property and may be considered as candidate anticoagulant biomaterials.