Properties of Moving Discrete Breathers in Beryllium

Abstract

Discrete breathers (DBs) have been described among pure metals with face-centered cubic (FCC) and body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice, but for hexagonal close-packed (HCP) metals, their properties are little studied. In this paper, the properties of standing and moving DBs in beryllium HCP metal are analyzed by the molecular dynamics method using the many-body interatomic potential. It is shown that the DB is localized in a close-packed atomic row in the basal plane, while oscillations with a large amplitude along the close-packed row are made by two or three atoms, moving in antiphase with the nearest neighbors. Dependences of the DB frequency on the amplitude, as well as the velocity of the DB on its amplitude and on parameter δ, which determines the phase difference of the oscillations of neighboring atoms, are obtained. The maximum velocity of the DB movement in beryllium reaches 4.35 km/s, which is 33.7% of the velocity of longitudinal sound waves. The obtained results supplement our concepts about the mechanisms of localization and energy transport in HCP metals.