Abstract
The local structure and dynamics of impurities Fe, Al and Mn in beryllium were investigated on an atomic scale using ab initio molecular dynamics and statistical physics methods. The analysis of the radial distribution function centered on impurity atoms shows that the density of beryllium atoms around Fe and Mn is 8.4% and 8.6% higher than that around Al, respectively. The statistics of the measure square displacement of impurity atoms show that the diffusion coefficients of Al atoms are 114% and 133% larger than that of Fe and Mn atoms in the melt beryllium, respectively. Statistical analysis of velocity autocorrelation function of impurity atom shows that Fe and Mn atoms collide strongly with beryllium atoms in the first coordination layer, indicating that they are tightly surrounded and bound by the surrounding beryllium atoms in the central position, while the beryllium atoms around Al are loosely arranged and have weak binding forces with Al. The analysis of the activity coefficients of the impurities shows that when Fe or Mn enters the melt beryllium, it reduces the free energy of the system, whereas when Al enters, it increases the system energy. In summary, the interatomic force of BeAl is weak, so they do not form intermetallic compounds, and Al diffuses quickly in beryllium. While BeFe and BeMn have strong interatomic forces, and tend to form more BeFe and BeMn bonds to reduce the free energy of the system, so Fe and Mn diffuse slowly in beryllium. Ab initio molecular dynamics can be used to forecast the best experimental temperature for the vacuum distillation of beryllium.
High-purity beryllium is often used for the P-type doping of semiconductor materials, and through the formation of PN junctions, multi-purpose devices are prepared, including the first generation of silicon devices, the second generation of GaAs, InP-based devices, the third generation of GaN, SiC, ZnO devices, etc, and in the infrared field, including the second class of superlattice devices, InSb devices, etc, it is an important doping element for the preparation of semiconductor devices. At present, high-purity beryllium has been listed as a strategic material by many countries. The outer electron configuration of the beryllium nucleus is 2, and the beryllium atom forms four covalent bonds with the surrounding four semiconductor atoms, but two holes are formed due to the lack of two valence electrons, so the doped semiconductor is a P-type semiconductor. Beryllium has the advantages of small atomic mass, easy migration to replace trivalent metals, high activation rate and various doping forms. The beryllium acceptor in gallium nitride is the subject of intensive research at the end of the nineties. In 2013, the GaN:Be crystals were grown and a white light emitting diode was fabricated, and much higher quantum efficiency was obtaine
According to the results of preliminary experiments, vacuum distillation can separate most of the impurities in beryllium except Fe, Mn, etc, which are difficult to com-pletely remove. There are some basic theoretical problems in the purification process. For instance, vapor pressure between Mn and Be is very different, so Mn is difficult to remove, while the vapor pressure between Al and Be is close and Al is easy to separate. Distillation purification includes two phys-ical processes of volatilization and diffusion, the host metal and impurities volatilize on the melt surface, and their volatilization rates are different due to the difference in vapor pressure of different elements, thereby forming a concentra-tion gradient of impurity in the beryllium melt. Under the action of concentration gradient, impurity atoms diffuse and migrate in the beryllium melt. The local microstructure and dynamics characteristics of different impurity atoms in the melt beryllium are key factors affecting their diffusion migration, which in turn affects their separation behavior and purification.
Ab initio molecular dynamics combines first principles with molecular dynamics simulation, directly calculates the interac-tion between all atoms through quantum chemical methods, and has high calculation accuracy, which is an effective method for simulating liquid metals. Molecular dynamics simulations based on a third generation of charge-optimized many body potential were performed to calculate the solid-liquid interface free energy and anisotropy of A
The computer simulation in this study adopted ab initio molecular dynamic
The configuration in this study contains 108 atoms (107 Be atoms and 1 impurity atom), which was expressed as Be107M (M=Fe, Al, Mn). The initial configuration of the above system was constructed with 108 atoms randomly distributed in a cube box and equilibrated at 1573, 1673 and 1773 K by the Nose-Hoover thermostat. The densities of the molten Be107M alloy were obtained by test calculations. Firstly, the density of molten Be107M equilibrated at 1573, 1673 and 1773 K was preliminarily estimated by the theoretical density and expansion coefficient, and then the initial configuration was calculated by test. Then, based on the above initial configuration, the NPT ensemble was used to calculate the simulated cell volume under different pressures for 500 steps, with high accuracy and truncation energy of 520 eV to obtain the relationship between pressure and volume. Then, the quadratic polynomial was used to fit the pressure-volume trend line to obtain the volume under zero pressur

Fig.1 Supercell volume at different pressures and temperatures
System | Temperature/K | Length/nm | Density/g·c |
---|---|---|---|
Be108 | 1573 | 1.0192 | 1.533 |
1673 | 1.0199 | 1.529 | |
1773 | 1.0203 | 1.528 | |
Be107Fe | 1573 | 1.0177 | 1.613 |
1673 | 1.0187 | 1.609 | |
1773 | 1.0217 | 1.595 | |
Be107Al | 1573 | 1.0186 | 1.564 |
1673 | 1.0205 | 1.555 | |
1773 | 1.0218 | 1.549 | |
Be107Mn | 1573 | 1.0191 | 1.605 |
1673 | 1.0201 | 1.601 | |
1773 | 1.0218 | 1.593 |
Dynamics simulation ran 8000 steps at different temperatures in four systems. The last 4000 steps were analyzed by statistical physics to obtain the characteristic information of impurities in the melt beryllium, including local microstructure and dynamics characteristics.
Radial distribution functions are the most commonly used mathematical language for describing the microstructure of liquid and amorphous materials. The radial distribution function gAB(r) represents the probability of finding class B atoms in a spherical shell with a distance of r from the central atom of class A and a thickness of δr, and the ratio of the probability when class B atoms are evenly distributed throughout the simulated system. gAB(r) can be used to get the structural information of the system, such as atomic radius, average spacing between atoms and coordination number, so as to obtain the interrelationship between class A atoms and class B atoms. gAB(r) is defined as
(1) |
where A and B are particle types; NA and NB are the number of A particles and B particles, respectively; niB(r) is the number of B particles in the (r, r+δr) spherical shell centered on A particles.
The last 4000 frames of the trajectory of the molecular dynamics simulation were analyzed, and the radial distribution function centered on the impurity atoms Fe, Al and Mn was obtained in

Fig.2 Radial distribution function of four impurity systems at 1673 K
(2) |
The coordination number NM-Be of the impurity atom Fe, Al and Mn is calculated by
(3) |
So far, the structural parameters of melt beryllium are calculated, including the first peak radius rmax, the first valley radius rmin, the coordination number NM-Be and the atomic number density ρM-Be, as shown in
System | Be107Fe | Be107Al | Be107Mn | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1573 K | 1773 K | 1573 K | 1773 K | 1573 K | 1773 K | |||
rmax | 2.2785 | 2.2782 | 2.5281 | 2.5124 | 2.3174 | 2.3813 | ||
rmin | 3.2330 | 3.2459 | 3.4265 | 3.4221 | 3.2829 | 3.2853 | ||
NM-Be | 14.66 | 14.12 | 15.87 | 15.48 | 14.90 | 15.14 | ||
ρM-Be/×1 | 0.10357 | 0.09857 | 0.09417 | 0.09222 | 0.10050 | 0.10193 |
The diffusion coefficient of the impurities Fe, Mn and Al in melt beryllium was calculated by the mean squared displacement (MSD) method with the Einstein equatio
(4) |
where ri(0) and ri(t) are the coordinates of particle i at the arbitrary origin of time and t later, respectively. The MSD curves of the impurity atom Fe, Mn and Al within 4000–4500 fs, 5000–5500 fs, 6000–6500 fs and 7000–7500 fs at 1673 K are shown in

Fig.3 MSD of four independent statistics within different durations at 1673 K: (a) 4000–4500 fs, (b) 5000–5500 fs, (c) 6000–6500 fs, and (d) 7000–7500 fs
Impurity | Fe | Mn | Al | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MSD/×1 | 1.13 | 1.09 | 1.40 | 0.76 | 0.88 | 0.79 | 1.01 | 1.36 | 2.64 | 2.20 | 2.10 | 2.49 |
Average MSD/×1 | 1.10 | 1.01 | 2.36 | |||||||||
D/×1 | 3.67 | 3.37 | 7.87 |
show that Al diffuses rapidly in melt beryllium, while Fe and Mn diffuse slowly. The dynamics analysis of the impurity atoms is consistent with the abovementioned local microstructure analysis. In the melt beryllium, the beryllium atoms around the Al atom are loosely arranged and the binding force is weak, so Al diffuses quickly. The beryllium atoms around Fe and Mn atoms are closely arranged and have strong binding forces, so Fe and Mn diffuse slowly.
The time correlation function is an important quality of thermodynamic systems, which indicates the degree of correlation between a specific physical quantity at the current moment and a physical quantity at an earlier time, reflecting the causal relationship between them, and it is closely related to the migration and mass transfer process of thermodynamic system. The velocity autocorrelation function (VACF) is defined as the correlation degree of the current velocity of a particular atom in a simulated system with the velocity at an earlier tim
VACF(t)=Vi(t0)·V(t0+t) | (5) |
In this experiment, to improve the statistical accuracy and to avoid the influence of statistical noise, VACF statistics were performed at different time starting points for the same impurity atom, and the periods of four independent statistics are 4000–4500 fs, 5000–5500 fs, 6000–6500 fs and 7000–7500 fs, as shown in

Fig.4 VACF of impurity atoms in melt beryllium at 1673 K: (a) 4000–4500 fs, (b) 5000–5500 fs, (c) 6000–6500 fs, and (d) 7000–7500 fs
Fe atoms decay faster and rebound strongly, and Mn atoms decay the fastest and their rebound is the strongest. It shows that Fe and Mn are tightly wrapped in the center position by the coordination atom Be and oscillate at a higher frequency, and it is difficult to break away from the encirclement formed by the coordination atom Be. The beryllium atoms around Al are looser, the collision effect is weak, and the rebound is also weak. The analysis of VACF is consistent with the conclu-sions of local microstructure analysis and diffusion coefficient analysis.
The statistics of the time when the initial momentum of the impurity atom decays to zero from abovementioned VACF are shown in
Impurity | Al | Fe | Mn | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fig.4a | Fig.4b | Fig.4c | Fig.4d | Average | Fig.4a | Fig.4b | Fig.4c | Fig.4d | Average | Fig.4a | Fig.4b | Fig.4c | Fig.4d | Average | |||
Time | 52 | 50 | 56 | 50 | 52.0 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 45.5 | 42 | 40 | 41 | 41 | 41.0 |
In a thermodynamic system, partial molar free energy (∂G/ ∂N) is a quantity of strength that represents the intrinsic pro-perties of the material system. The partial molar free energy of component i (∂G/∂Ni) has the following relationship with the activity coefficient γi of component i in this syste
(6) |
The activity coefficients of the impurities Fe and Al in beryllium are 0.055 and 4.71, respectivel
, | (7) |
The intrinsic properties of the Be107M (M=Al, Fe, Mn) system represented by
There is no interatomic activity coefficient of Be and Mn in the references, and the data are insufficient, so only qualitative estimation can be made. According to the theoretical results of this study, the interaction force between BeMn atoms is stronger than that between BeBe and MnMn, which is a negative deviation, and this kind of state is characterized by the existence of solid solutions and compounds below the liquidus line. Although the vapor pressure of Be and Mn is very different, it has a strong force with Be. In the vacuum distillation process, Mn is separated by accumulation in the residue.
1) The outer electronic structure of atom determines characteristics of interaction force between atoms. The interaction forces between Be and Al are weaker than that between Be and Be, so the system tends to form fewer BeAl bonds to reduce the system energy. Al tends to be immiscible with beryllium and does not form intermetallic compounds. In the melt beryllium, the Be atoms around the Al are stacked loosely, and thus Al diffuses and migrates quickly.
2) The interaction force between Be and Fe/Mn is stronger than that between Be and Be. The system tends to form more BeFe and BeMn bonds to reduce the free energy of the system. Fe and Mn are easy to form intermetallic compounds or solid solutions with beryllium. In melt beryllium, Fe or Mn atoms are tightly wrapped and bound by the surrounding Be atoms, so they diffuse and migrate slowly.
3) Ab initio molecular dynamics can be used to forecast the best experimental temperature for the vacuum distillation of beryllium. It provides an efficient and convenient means to guide the purification of beryllium.
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