Effect of disorder on the structure of small aluminum clusters during heat treatment

The boundaries of thermal stability of the initial face-centered cubic (fcc) phase in perfect aluminum clusters with a diameter up to 3 nm have been investigated by the molecular dynamics method using a modified tight-binding (TB-SMA) potential. Based on the performed computer analysis, it has been concluded that, in most cases, for aluminum clusters with sizes up to $D= 2.5$ nm, the most stable configuration is the structure with pentagonal symmetry. With a further increase in the number of atoms, the fcc structure becomes more stable. The influence of the degree of disorder of nanocompacted aluminum particles up to 4 nm in diameter on the formation of a crystal structure during heat treatment has been analyzed. It has been shown that, under the effect of the temperature factor, the clusters undergo a transition from the initial fcc phase to other structural modifications, including those with pentagonal symmetry, even in the case of clusters with fairly large sizes.