(189y) Composition Effect on the Nucleation Process in CuNi Systems

By using molecular dynamics, we show the effect of the composition on the nucleation process. To do so, we use three different systems, pure copper, pure nickel and the copper-nickel alloy. The system is sampled with the umbrella sampling that allows us to look at its free energy. Our results show a higher free energy for the alloy than for the pure systems. Meanwhile, the alloy tends to form a bigger critical nucleus than the two other systems. The structure as well as the composition of the nucleus has also been studied showing how it has been impacted by the composition.