Sink strength simulations using the Monte Carlo method: Applied to spherical traps

The sink strength is an important parameter for the mean-field rate equations to simulate temporal changes in the micro-structure of materials. However, there are noteworthy discrepancies between sink strengths obtained by the Monte Carlo and analytical methods. In this study, we show the reasons for these differences. We present the equations to estimate the statistical error for sink strength calculations and show the way to determine the sink strengths for multiple traps.We develop a novel, very fast Monte Carlo method to obtain sink strengths. The results show that, in addition to the well-known sink strength dependence of the trap concentration, trap radius and the total sink strength, the sink strength also depends on the defect diffusion jump length and the total trap volume fraction. Taking these factors into account, allows us to obtain a very accurate analytic expression for the sink strength of spherical traps.