Derivation of the phase-field-crystal model for colloidal solidification

作者：van Teeffelen Sven^*; Backofen Rainer; Voigt Axel; Loewen Hartmut

来源：Physical Review E, 2009, 79(5): 051404.

DOI：10.1103/PhysRevE.79.051404

• colloids
• density functional theory
• nucleation
• solidification

The phase-field-crystal model is by now widely used in order to predict crystal nucleation and growth. For colloidal solidification with completely overdamped individual particle motion, we show that the phase-field-crystal dynamics can be derived from the microscopic Smoluchowski equation via dynamical density-functional theory. The different underlying approximations are discussed. In particular, a variant of the phase-field-crystal model is proposed which involves less approximations than the standard phase-field-crystal model. We finally test the validity of these phase-field-crystal models against dynamical density-functional theory. In particular, the velocities of a linear crystal front from the undercooled melt are compared as a function of the undercooling for a two-dimensional colloidal suspension of parallel dipoles. Good agreement is only obtained by a drastic scaling of the free energies in the phase-field-crystal model in order to match the bulk freezing transition point.

• 出版日期2009-5