Atomic scale deformation mechanisms in Cu/Zr multilayers in nano-scratching processes

Context: Cu/Zr multilayers have important applications in high-strength structural materials, wear-resistant coatings, and microelectronic devices. This study presents a molecular dynamics model to simulate the diamond scratching process of Cu/Zr multilayers, examining the effects of parameters such as scratching speed and depth on this process. The simulations were conducted at different scratching speeds and scratching depths. The results indicate that scratching speed significantly influences the location of chip formation on the surface of the Cu/Zr multilayers. Moreover, increasing scratching depth results in larger chip volumes and higher scratching forces. This study enhances our understanding of how scratching parameters influence the behavior of Cu/Zr multilayers, providing valuable insights for their applications. Methods: In this study, Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator (LAMMPS) is used to simulate the entire scratching process, and EAM potential function is used to describe the interaction forces between atoms during the scratching process. After the simulation is completed, use the open visualization software OVITO to process the simulation results and obtain images.