Molecular dynamics calculation of thermophysical properties for a highly reactive liquid

In order to further understand the physical characteristics of liquid silicon, the thermophysical properties are required over a broad temperature range. However, its high reactivity brings about great difficulties in the experimental measurement. Here we report the thermophysical properties by molecular dynamics calculation, including density, specific heat, diffusion coefficient, and surface tension. The calculation is performed with a system consisting of 64 000 atoms, and employing the Stillinger-Weber (SW) potential model and the modified embedded atom method (MEAM) potential model. The results show that the density increases as a quadratic function of undercooling, and the value calculated by SW potential model is only 2–4 % smaller than the reported experimental data. The specific heat is obtained to be 30.95 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹ by SW potential model and 32.50 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹ by MEAM potential model, both of which are constants in the corresponding ranges of temperature. The self-diffusion coefficient is exponentially dependent on the temperature and consistent with the Arrhenius equation. The surface tension increases linearly with the rise of undercooling and agrees well with the reported experimental results. This work provides reasonable data in much wider temperature range, especially for the undercooled metastable state.