Atomistic simulation and analysis of plasticity in amorphous silicon

The principal findings of a comprehensive computational simulation of plastic flow in amorphous Si - presented elsewhere in detail - are summarized. The unit plastic events have been identified to consist of discrete shear transformations triggered at characteristic thresholds of stress that result in transformation shear strains of about 0.015. Based on these findings, a kinetic model of plastic flow is proposed that provides for the temperature dependence of the plastic flow resistance and explains the evolution of a unique flow state starting from different amorphous structures. It is proposed that these findings should be broadly applicable to other strongly bonded glassy covalent compounds.