Kinetics of Spherical Interface in Crystal Growth

The growth kinetics of spherical NiAl and CuZr crystals are studied by using molecular dynamics simulations. The growth rates of crystals are found to increase with the grain radius. The simulations show that the interface thickness and the Jackson \alpha-factor increase as the growth proceeds, indicating that the interface becomes increasingly rough during growth. Due to the increasing interface roughening, the fraction of repeatable growth sites at interface f is proposed to actually increase in growth. An attachment rate, which is defined as the fraction of atoms that join the crystal interface without leaving, is used to approximate f, displaying a linear increase. With this approximation, we predict the growth rates as a function of the crystal radius, and the results qualitatively agree with those from the direct simulations.