First principles impurity diffusion coefficients

M. Mantina*, Y. Wang, L. Q. Chen, Z. K. Liu, C. Wolverton

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

235 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report the prediction of impurity diffusion coefficients entirely from first principles, using density-functional theory (DFT) calculations. From DFT we obtain all microscopic parameters in the pre-factor and activation energy of impurity diffusion coefficients: (i) the correlation factor through a five frequency model, (ii) the impurity jump frequency within the framework of transition state theory and (iii) the free energies of vacancy formation and vacancy-solute binding. Specifically, we calculate the impurity diffusion coefficients of Mg, Si and Cu in dilute face-centered cubic Al alloys. The results show excellent agreement with experimental data. We discuss the factors contributing to the trends in diffusivities of these impurities.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4102-4108
Number of pages7
JournalActa Materialia
Volume57
Issue number14
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2009

Funding

Work at Penn State was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Grants DMR-0510180 and DMR-0205232. C.W. acknowledges support from the US Department of Energy under project DE-FG02-98ER45721 and the US Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP) through the US Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), Contract 07-1876. First principles calculations were carried out on the LION clusters at The Pennsylvania State University supported in part by NSF Grants DMR-9983532 and DMR-0122638 and in part by the Materials Simulation Center and the Graduate Education and Research Services at The Pennsylvania State University.

Keywords

  • Activation energy and diffusion pre-factor
  • Density-functional theory
  • Dilute aluminum alloys
  • Tracer diffusion of Mg, Si, Cu

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Ceramics and Composites
  • Polymers and Plastics
  • Metals and Alloys

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