arXiv subjects

François Schiettekatte

Publications and source records attributed to François Schiettekatte.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

An activation-relaxation technique study of two-level system impact on internal dissipation using DFT-based moment tensor potential

We use a recently-developed machine-learned Moment Tensor Potential (MTP) trained on data generated with the density functional theory (DFT) and tailored to amorphous silicon coupled with the Activation-Relaxation Technique nouveau (ARTn) to identify and classify two-level systems (TLS). The samples generated using MTP recover experimental results and provide average structural and dissipative properties similar to those obtained with a modified Stillinger-Weber potential, including radial distribution function, defect concentration and internal friction. Atomistic details, however, are significantly different, including the density and type of TLS. In particular, we find that while the density of TLS involving a bond-hopping mechanism is similar for the two potentials, more complex TLSs, such as those involving a Wooten-Winer-Weaire bond exchange, are about twice as common. Analysis also shows that TLSs, for MTP-based models, are mostly isolated and oscillate independently from each other.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Internal mechanical dissipation mechanisms in amorphous silicon

Using the Activation-Relaxation Technique-nouveau, we search for two-level systems (TLSs) in models of amorphous silicon (a-Si). The TLSs are mechanisms related to internal mechanical dissipation and represent the main source of noise in the most sensitive frequency range of the largest gravitational wave detectors as well as one of the main sources of decoherence in many quantum computers. We show that in a-Si, the majority of the TLSs of interest fall into two main categories: bond-defect hopping where neighbors exchange a topological defect and the Wooten-Winer-Weaire bond exchange. The distribution of these categories depends heavily on the preparation schedule of the a-Si. We use our results to compute the mechanical loss in amorphous silicon, leading to a loss angle of 0.001 at room temperature, decreasing to 0.0001 at 150 K in some configurations. Our modeling results indicate that multiple classes of events can cause experimentally-relevant TLSs in disordered materials and, therefore, multiple attenuation strategies might be needed to reduce their impact.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2021

Enhanced Medium Range Order in Vapor Deposited Germania Glasses at Elevated Temperatures

Glasses are nonequilibrium solids with properties highly dependent on their method of preparation. In vapor-deposited molecular glasses, structural organization could be readily tuned with deposition rate and substrate temperature. Herein, we show the atomic arrangement of strong network forming GeO2 glass is modified at medium range (< 2 nm) through vapor deposition at elevated temperatures. Raman spectral signatures distinctively show the population of 6-membered GeO4 rings increases at elevated substrate temperatures. Deposition near the glass transition temperature is more efficient than post-growth annealing in modifying atomic structure at medium range. The enhanced medium range organization correlates with reduction of the room temperature internal friction. Identifying the microscopic origin of room temperature internal friction in amorphous oxides is paramount to design the next generation interference coatings for mirrors of the end test masses of gravitational wave interferometers, in which the room temperature internal friction is a main source of noise limiting their sensitivity.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

Replenish and relax: explaining logarithmic annealing in disordered materials

Fatigue and aging of materials are, in large part, determined by the evolution of the atomic-scale structure in response to strains and perturbations. This coupling between microscopic structure and long time scales remains one of the main challenges in materials study. Focusing on a model system, ion-damaged crystalline silicon, we combine nanocalorimetric experiments with an off-lattice kinetic Monte Carlo simulation to identify the atomistic mechanisms responsible for the structural relaxation over long time scales. We relate the logarithmic relaxation, observed in a number of systems, with heat-release measurements. The microscopic mechanism associated with logarithmic relaxation can be described as a two-step replenish and relax process. As the system relaxes, it reaches deeper energy states with logarithmically growing barriers that need to be unlocked to replenish the heat-releasing events leading to lower energy configurations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Evolution of the potential-energy surface of amorphous silicon

The link between the energy surface of bulk systems and their dynamical properties is generally difficult to establish. Using the activation-relaxation technique (ART nouveau), we follow the change in the barrier distribution of a model of amorphous silicon as a function of the degree of relaxation. We find that while the barrier-height distribution, calculated from the initial minimum, is a unique function that depends only on the level of distribution, the reverse-barrier height distribution, calculated from the final state, is independent of the relaxation, following a different function. Moreover, the resulting gained or released energy distribution is a simple convolution of these two distributions indicating that the activation and relaxation parts of a the elementary relaxation mechanism are completely independent. This characterized energy landscape can be used to explain nano-calorimetry measurements.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗