Abstract

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to determine the properties of the crystal-liquid interfaces of Ni and Ni50Al50. The interfacial free energies and kinetic growth coefficients for different crystal orientations are estimated using simulations of crystal-liquid systems at the melting temperature T-m from time- and wavenumber-dependent capillary wave height-height correlation functions. Growth coefficients are also determined from non-equilibrium simulations using the free solidification method, which compares well with those obtained from analysis of capillary wave fluctuations. Crystal growth in pure Ni is about a factor of 10 faster than in the binary Ni50Al50 system. The interfacial properties of the B2 intermetallic crystal phase of Ni50Al50 exhibit much lower anisotropy than those of the face-centered cubic crystalline structure of Ni.