Principal Investigator:
Michael Moseler
, Fraunhofer IWM, Freiburg, and University of Freiburg
HPC Platform used:
JUWELS and JURECA of JSC
Local Project ID:
chfr09
Understanding the response of silicon and diamond to shear deformation is crucial to improve the performance of nanodevices and low friction coatings. Atomic length scale simulations show that the two materials differ significantly in their amorphization-mediated wear behavior: Externally applied pressure favors the wear of silicon, while it reduces the wear of diamond. For silicon, a shear-induced recrystallization process opposes amorphization. By choosing suitable orientations of two silicon crystals in the sliding contact, the combination of both phase transformations can be exploited to grow silicon crystals with nanoscale precision.
