Kinetic details of crystallization in supercooled liquid Pb during the isothermal relaxation

The kinetic details of crystallization in supercooled liquid Pb during the isothermal relaxation process have been investigated by molecular dynamics simulations, and the microstructure evolution analyzed by the cluster-type index method (CTIM) and the tracing method. It has been found that, the dynamic features are consistently correlated with the microstructure evolution and the crystallization characteristics in the mean square displacement (MSD) and the non-Gaussian parameter (NGP): the β relaxation regime corresponds to the minor structural rearrangement because of the “cage effect”, and the atoms attempt to escape from the “cages”; the α relaxation regime is related to a more diffusive movement of atoms, and the appearance of the second plateau in MSD and the non-zero plateau in NGP corresponds to the completion of crystallization. In addition, three distinct stages of nucleation, growth of nuclei and coarsening of crystallites in the crystallization process have been clearly revealed.