Interface kinetics in phase field models: isothermal transformations in binary alloys and steps dynamics in molecular-beam-epitaxy

Abstract

We present a unified description of interface kinetic effects in phase field models for isothermal transformations in binary alloys and steps dynamics in molecular-beam-epitaxy. The phase field equations of motion incorporate a kinetic cross-coupling between the phase field and the concentration field. This cross coupling generalizes the phenomenology of kinetic effects and was omitted until recently in classical phase field models. We derive general expressions (independent of the details of the phase field model) for the kinetic coefficients within the corresponding macroscopic approach using a physically motivated reduction procedure. The latter is equivalent to the so-called thin interface limit but is technically simpler. It involves the calculation of the effective dissipation that can be ascribed to the interface in the phase field model. We discuss in details the possibility of a non positive definite matrix of kinetic coefficients, i.e. a negative effective interface dissipation, although being in the range of stability of the underlying phase field model. Numerically, we study the step-bunching instability in molecular-beam-epitaxy due to the Ehrlich-Schwoebel effect, present in our model due to the cross-coupling. Using the reduction procedure we compare the results of the phase field simulations with the analytical predictions of the macroscopic approach.