Shell-resolved melting kinetics of icosahedral cluster

J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2009 Mar;9(3):2051-4. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2009.395.

Abstract

Molecular dynamics calculations of the fluctuation of bond vibration revealed the shell-resolved mode of surface melting of the a closed-shell cluster containing 147 atoms with Lennard-Jones type interaction. It is found that the surface melting is imitated by the migrating of the vertex atoms. Although the melting process of the LJ147 cluster could be divided into discrete stages of surface shell-by-shell melting in general, there is still a continuous process of melting from the surface shell to the core interior.