Noble, MW, Tonks, MR and Fitzgerald, SP orcid.org/0000-0003-2865-3057 (2020) Turing Instability in the Solid State: Void Lattices in Irradiated Metals. Physical Review Letters, 124 (6). 167401. ISSN 0031-9007
Abstract
Turing (or double-diffusive) instabilities describe pattern formation in reaction-diffusion systems, and were proposed in 1952 as a potential mechanism behind pattern formation in nature, such as leopard spots and zebra stripes. Because the mechanism requires the reacting species to have significantly different diffusion rates, only a few liquid phase chemical reaction systems exhibiting the phenomenon have been discovered. In solids the situation is markedly different, since species such as impurities or other defects typically have mobilities
∝exp(−E/kBT), where E is the migration barrier and T is the temperature. This often leads to mobilities differing by several orders of magnitude. Here, we use a simple, minimal model to show that an important class of emergent patterns in solids, namely void superlattices in irradiated metals, could also be explained by the Turing mechanism. Analytical results are confirmed by phase field simulations. The model (Cahn-Hilliard equations for interstitial and vacancy concentrations, coupled by generation and annihilation terms) is generic, and the mechanism could also be responsible for the patterns and structure observed in many solid state systems.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 American Physical Society. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | cond-mat.mtrl-sci; cond-mat.mtrl-sci; nlin.PS |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mathematics (Leeds) > Pure Mathematics (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) EP/R005974/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 11 Nov 2020 15:08 |
Last Modified: | 22 Nov 2023 16:16 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Physical Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.167401 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:150232 |