McGill.CA / Science / Department of Physics

CPM Seminar

Simulations of network-forming materials

Gerard Barkema

Universiteit Utrecht

In network-forming materials such as vitreous silica or amorphous silicon, the structure is determined by the set of bonds between particles. While the local environment of each particle is usually governed by strict rules, the bonded network can show a wide variety of different structures and properties. The focus of this talk is to present simulation methods for these materials, such as the activation-relaxation technique and bond-switching algorithms, as well as discuss their structural and electronic properties. Also, we will present a method to estimate the number of topologies that a network-forming material can take, or more precisely, its configurational entropy.

Thursday, September 12th 2002, 15:30
Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, room 114