Discrete atomistic model to simulate etching of a crystalline solid

Area of Science:

• Condensed matter physics
• Materials science
• Surface science

Background:

• Understanding crystalline solid dissolution is crucial for various scientific and industrial applications.
• Surface morphology and dynamics play a key role in dissolution processes.
• Existing models may not fully capture the atomistic details of dissolution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate a discrete atomistic solid-on-solid model for crystalline solid dissolution.
• To investigate the scaling properties and universality class of the dissolution process.
• To analyze the impact of boundary conditions on surface dynamics and correlations.

Main Methods:

• Development of a discrete atomistic solid-on-solid model where unit cell removal probability is proportional to exposed area.
• Numerical simulations in one dimension to study surface evolution.
• Analysis of scaling behavior, correlation functions, and surface height statistics.

Main Results:

• The model exhibits excellent scaling properties, reaching time-independent short-range correlations and Family-Vicsek scaling.
• Identified scaling exponents (alpha=0.491+/-0.002, beta=0.330+/-0.001) place the system in the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class.
• Periodic boundary conditions altered surface height statistics from asymmetric Lévy distributions to Gaussian, while preserving scaling exponents.

Conclusions:

• The proposed model effectively describes crystalline solid dissolution with realistic scaling behavior.
• The study confirms the system's belonging to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class.
• Boundary conditions significantly influence surface fluctuation statistics, highlighting the importance of simulation setup in surface dynamics studies.