Pair dynamics in a glass-forming binary mixture: Simulations and theory

Murarka, Rajesh K and Bagchi, Biman (2003) Pair dynamics in a glass-forming binary mixture: Simulations and theory. In: Physical Review E (Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics), 67 (4). pp. 41501-1.

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Abstract

We have carried out molecular dynamics simulations to understand the dynamics of a tagged pair of atoms in a strongly nonideal glass-forming binary Lennard-Jones mixture. Here atom B is smaller than atom A ( sBB50.88 sAA , where sAA is the molecular diameter of the A particles! and the AB interaction is stronger than that given by Lorentz-Berthelot mixing rule ( eAB51.5 eAA , where eAA is the interaction energy strength between the A particles!. The generalized time-dependent pair distribution function is calculated separately for the three pairs (AA, BB, and AB). The three pairs are found to behave differently. The relative diffusion constants are found to vary in the order DR BB.DR AB.DR AA , with DR BB.2DR AA , showing the importance of the hopping process (B hops much more than A). We introduce a non-Gaussian parameter [a2 P(t)] to monitor the relative motion of a pair of atoms and evaluate it for all the three pairs with initial separations chosen to be at the first peak of the corresponding partial radial distribution functions. At intermediate times, significant deviation from the Gaussian behavior of the pair distribution functions is observed with different degrees for the three pairs. A simple mean-field (MF) model, proposed originally by Haan [Phys. Rev. A 20, 2516 (1979)] for one-component liquid, is applied to the case of a binary mixture and compared with the simulation results. While the MF model successfully describes the dynamics of the AA and AB pairs, the agreement for the BB pair is less satisfactory. This is attributed to the large scale anharmonic motions of the B particles in a weak effective potential. Dynamics of the next nearest neighbor pairs is also investigated.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Physical Review E (Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics)
Publisher:	American Physical Society (APS)
Additional Information:	The DOI is currently only displayed. Copyright for this article belongs to American Physical Society (APS)
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Solid State & Structural Chemistry Unit
Date Deposited:	21 Jul 2004
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:14
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/1089

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