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Utah State University

Physics Capstone Projects

Alkali metals

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Phonon Dynamics Of Alkali Metals In The Hcp Lattice Structure, Jake Christensen May 2018

Phonon Dynamics Of Alkali Metals In The Hcp Lattice Structure, Jake Christensen

Physics Capstone Projects

An Embedded-Atom-Method model that is successful at describing the vibrational properties of alkali metals in the BCC crystal structure is applied to the HCP structure. Phonon dispersion curves, density of states, and Debye temperatures are calculalated for Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs. Comparison of BCC, FCC and HCP Debye temperatures show that BCC is the preferred structure at higher temperatures, which agrees with experiment.


An Investigation Of The Alkali Metals In The Fcc Structure Using An Embedded-Atom-Method (Eam) Model, Marcus Jackman Dec 2017

An Investigation Of The Alkali Metals In The Fcc Structure Using An Embedded-Atom-Method (Eam) Model, Marcus Jackman

Physics Capstone Projects

Embedded-atom-method models have been used in the calculation and prediction of many vibrational and thermal properties of materials. In 2012 Wilson and Riffe constructed a model that predicts dispersion relations and frequency-moment Debye temperatures of the alkali metals with a greater degree of accuracy than previous models. The Wilson-Riffe model was implemented using MATLAB code. Here that model is extended to model alkali metals in the close-packed fcc structure. Code development is discussed, and results are presented for dispersion relations, density of states, Debye temperatures and free energy. The vibrational free energy combined with a suitable constant representing the electronic …