Static, transient, and dynamic phase coexistence in metal nanoclusters

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to examine static and dynamic coexistence between solid and liquid phases in nanoscale silver, copper, and nickel clusters. We find static coexistence in the 561-atom copper icosahedron, the 561-atom silver icosahedron, and the 923-atom nickel icosahedron, and in cluster sizes above these thresholds, but not in smaller clusters. Nonetheless, in smaller clusters we typically observe either dynamic coexistence between fully solid and liquid states or transient coexistence which is essentially dynamic coexistence between a fully solid state and a solid-liquid state.