Papers by Author: Pavel A. Korzhavyi

Abstract: We apply density functional perturbation theory together with experimental studies in order to investigate the structure and physical properties of possible stable and metastable copper(I) compounds with oxygen and hydrogen. Copper(I) hydride, CuH, is found to be a metastable phase which decomposes at ambient conditions and exhibiting a semiconducting gap in the electronic spectrum. The calculated structure and phonon spectra are found to be in good agreement with experimental data. The phonon spectra of a novel metastable phase, copper(I) hydroxide, are also determined.

Abstract: Self-diffusion of the metal and carbon atoms in TiC and ZrC carbides is studied by first principles methods. Our calculations yield point defects energies, vacancy jump barriers and diffusion pre-factors in TiC and ZrC. The results are in reasonable agreement with the available experimental data and suggest that the self-diffusion mechanism for metal atoms in these carbides may involve nearest-neighbor vacancy pairs (one metal and one carbon vacancy).

Abstract: Vacancy-solute interactions play a crucial role in diffusion-controlled phase transformations, such as ordering or decomposition, which occur in alloys under heat treatment or under irradiation. The knowledge of these interactions is important for predicting long-term behavior of nuclear materials (such as reactor steels and nuclear-waste containers) under irradiation, as well as for advancing our general understanding of kinetic processes in alloys. Using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory and employing the locally self-consistent Green’s function technique, we develop a database of vacancy-solute interactions in dilute alloys of bcc Fe with 3p (Al, Si, P, S), 3d (Ti – Cu), and 4d (Nb – Ag) elements. Interactions within the first two coordination shells have been computed in the ferromagnetic state as well as in the paramagnetic (disordered local moment) state of the iron matrix. Magnetism is found to have a very strong effect on the vacancy-solute interactions.