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Main Authors: Liang, Youwen, Shou, Wan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.08787
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author Liang, Youwen
Shou, Wan
author_facet Liang, Youwen
Shou, Wan
contents Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) printing is a versatile technique to realize micro/nano-scale additive manufacturing of functional materials, including metals and semiconductors. However, the crystallization phenomena during LIFT printing have not been well understood, which is critical to determine the resulting microstructure and properties. In this work, we systematically investigate silicon crystallization during LIFT printing using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Specifically, MD simulation with Stillinger-Weber (SW) potential is used to investigate the size effect and surface influence on the crystallization of Si nanoparticles during transportation in air. We found that with a decrease in nanoparticle size, crystallization becomes increasingly rare, even at low cooling rates. The nucleation location of different particles is also analyzed and almost always starts at a sub-surface location (below 5 Å). The evolution of the atomic structure during solidification is also monitored to guide LIFT printing of Si. Our simulation results indicate that nano-confinement induced by the surface layer can lead to single-crystal structure formation, which may shed light on additive manufacturing of single-crystal structures and devices.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_08787
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Molecular dynamics simulation of silicon nanoparticle crystallization during laser-induced forward transfer printing
Liang, Youwen
Shou, Wan
Materials Science
Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) printing is a versatile technique to realize micro/nano-scale additive manufacturing of functional materials, including metals and semiconductors. However, the crystallization phenomena during LIFT printing have not been well understood, which is critical to determine the resulting microstructure and properties. In this work, we systematically investigate silicon crystallization during LIFT printing using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Specifically, MD simulation with Stillinger-Weber (SW) potential is used to investigate the size effect and surface influence on the crystallization of Si nanoparticles during transportation in air. We found that with a decrease in nanoparticle size, crystallization becomes increasingly rare, even at low cooling rates. The nucleation location of different particles is also analyzed and almost always starts at a sub-surface location (below 5 Å). The evolution of the atomic structure during solidification is also monitored to guide LIFT printing of Si. Our simulation results indicate that nano-confinement induced by the surface layer can lead to single-crystal structure formation, which may shed light on additive manufacturing of single-crystal structures and devices.
title Molecular dynamics simulation of silicon nanoparticle crystallization during laser-induced forward transfer printing
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.08787