Coalescence between Cu57 and Cu58 clusters at a room temperature: molecular dynamics simulations

Three coalescence processes of Cu₅₇—Cu₅₇, Cu₅₇—Cu₅₈, and Cu₅₈—Cu₅₈ clusters at 300 K are investigated by employing molecular dynamics simulations. According to the evolutions of mean square displacement and local atom packing, the coalescence process can be separated into three stages including an approaching stage, a coalescing stage, and a coalesced stage. The simulations show that the coalescence processes and the formed products are sensitive to the respective initial structures of, and the relative configuration between, the two coalescing icosahedron—based clusters.