The thermo-elastic instability model of melting of alkali halides in the Debye approximation |
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| Authors: | Frank J. Owens |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Physics, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, NY, USA |
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| Abstract: | The Debye model of lattice vibrations of alkali halides is used to show that there is a temperature below the melting temperature where the vibrational pressure exceeds the electrostatic pressure. The onset temperature of this thermo-elastic instability scales as the melting temperature of NaCl, KCl, and KBr, suggesting its role in the melting of the alkali halides in agreement with a previous more rigorous model. |
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| Keywords: | Thermo-elastic instability vibrational pressure electrostatic pressure Debye model of lattice vibrations |
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