Molecular-dynamics simulation of structural changes of a molten Cu555 cluster during freezing

Structural changes upon freezing of a molten Cu555 cluster have been studied using two different cooling ways by employing molecular-dynamics simulation. The simulation results show that the final structures and local structural change processes of the molten Cu555 present different patterns in two cooling ways. When the Cu555 cluster is quenched to T=400 K, the final structure is based on an icosahedral geometry. In the second cooling way from T=1100 to 400 K at a decrement of 100 K, the final crystallization structure is mainly based on a faced center cubic (FCC) structure.