A modified W-W interatomic potential based on ab initio calculations

摘要

In this paper we have developed a Finnis-Sinclair-type interatomic potential for W-W interactions that is based on ab initio calculations. The modified potential is able to reproduce the correct formation energies of self-interstitial atom (SIA) defects in tungsten, offering a significant improvement over the Ackland-Thetford tungsten potential. Using the modified potential, the thermal expansion is calculated in a temperature range from 0 to 3500 K. The results are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data, thus overcoming the shortcomings of the negative thermal expansion using the Derlet-Nguyen- Manh-Dudarev tungsten potential. The W-W potential presented here is also applied to study in detail the diffusion of SIAs in tungsten. We reveal that the initial SIA initiates a sequence of tungsten atom displacements and replacements in the (1 1 1) direction. An Arrhenius fit to the diffusion data at temperatures below 550K indicates a migration energy of 0.022 eV, which is in reasonable agreement with the experimental data.