First-principles transition-state tensorial cluster expansion of vacancy diffusion in Ta-W beyond the kinetically-resolved activation approximation

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Jeffries, Jacob, Sebastian-Olazabal, Brianna, Martinez, Enrique
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Jeffries, Jacob
Sebastian-Olazabal, Brianna
Martinez, Enrique
author_facet Jeffries, Jacob
Sebastian-Olazabal, Brianna
Martinez, Enrique
contents Predicting diffusion in chemically complex alloys remains challenging due to the strong dependence of migration barriers on local atomic environments. Here, we develop a first-principles-informed framework that directly learns environment-dependent migration barriers without relying on reduced kinetic approximations such as the kinetically resolved activation (KRA) model. Migration barriers computed using density functional theory and nudged elastic band calculations are represented via a tensorial cluster expansion including transition states and deployed in on-lattice kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Applied to the Ta-W system, the framework captures nontrivial composition-dependent diffusion behavior arising from a crossover between solute trapping and percolated low-barrier transport pathways, yielding a maximum in the apparent activation energy near intermediate compositions. This approach establishes a general and scalable route for integrating first-principles transition-state energetics into mesoscale kinetic simulations, enabling predictive multiscale modeling of diffusion in chemically complex materials and providing a pathway for uncovering emergent transport phenomena.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_23612
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle First-principles transition-state tensorial cluster expansion of vacancy diffusion in Ta-W beyond the kinetically-resolved activation approximation
Jeffries, Jacob
Sebastian-Olazabal, Brianna
Martinez, Enrique
Materials Science
Predicting diffusion in chemically complex alloys remains challenging due to the strong dependence of migration barriers on local atomic environments. Here, we develop a first-principles-informed framework that directly learns environment-dependent migration barriers without relying on reduced kinetic approximations such as the kinetically resolved activation (KRA) model. Migration barriers computed using density functional theory and nudged elastic band calculations are represented via a tensorial cluster expansion including transition states and deployed in on-lattice kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Applied to the Ta-W system, the framework captures nontrivial composition-dependent diffusion behavior arising from a crossover between solute trapping and percolated low-barrier transport pathways, yielding a maximum in the apparent activation energy near intermediate compositions. This approach establishes a general and scalable route for integrating first-principles transition-state energetics into mesoscale kinetic simulations, enabling predictive multiscale modeling of diffusion in chemically complex materials and providing a pathway for uncovering emergent transport phenomena.
title First-principles transition-state tensorial cluster expansion of vacancy diffusion in Ta-W beyond the kinetically-resolved activation approximation
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.23612