STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES AND CRYSTALLIZATION OF DENSIFIED BORON SILICON NITRIDE: INSIGHTS FROM MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATION

Authors

  • Dinh Cong Thanh Phenikaa University Nano Institute (PHENA), Phenikaa University, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • Le Van Vinh Phenikaa School of Computing, Phenikaa University, Hanoi, Vietnam

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18173/2354-1059.2026-0019

Keywords:

molecular dynamics, B-Si-N, crystallization, structural properties

Abstract

We used molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the structural properties of boron silicon nitride (B-Si-N) under high pressure. The B-Si-N sample was cooled from 5000 K to 300 K at a constant pressure of 60 GPa. At 4000 K and 3500 K, the structure remained disordered. As the sample was cooled, a phase transition occurred between 3500 K and 3000 K. Common-neighbor analysis (CNA) showed that nitrogen atoms in the Si-N-rich region began to form crystalline clusters with face-centered cubic (FCC) and hexagonal close-packed (HCP) arrangements. Most clusters adopted FCC-like local ordering of nitrogen atoms, whereas a smaller fraction exhibited HCP ordering. The crystallization mechanism is discussed in detail.

References

[1] W. Li, S. Ma, S. Cui, J. Ding, M. Widenmeyer, X. Zhang, Y. Zhan, Z. Yue, W. Zhang, P. Zhu, T. Cui, A. Weidenkaff & R. Riedel, “High-pressure synthesis, mechanical properties and oxidation behavior of advanced boron-containing α/β-Si3N4/Si ceramics using polymer-derived amorphous SiBN ceramics”, Journal of Advanced Ceramics, vol. 13, no. 10, pp. 1611-1621, 2024. https://doi.org/10.26599/JAC.2024.9220961

[2] U. Muller, W. Hoffbauer & H. Jansen, “Short-Range Ordering in Amorphous Si3B3N7 As Determined by Multinuclear NMR Spectroscopy”, Chemistry of Materials, vol. 12, no. 8, pp. 2341-2346, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1021/cm9911870

[3] X. Long, C. Shao & W. Wang, “Effects of boron content on the microwave-transparent property and high-temperature stability of continuous SiBN fibers”, Journal of the American Ceramic Society, vol. 103, no. 8, pp. 4436-4444, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.17151

[4] Y. Liu, K. Chen, S. Peng, Y. Cui, K. Han, M. Yu & H. Zhang, “Synthesis and pyrolysis mechanism of a novel polymeric precursor for SiBN ternary ceramic fibers”, Ceramics International, vol. 45, no. 16, pp. 20172-20177, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2019.06.286

[5] Y. Tang, J. Wang, X. Li, Z. Xie, H. Wang, W. Li & X. Wang, “Polymer-Derived SiBN Fiber for High-Temperature Structural/Functional Applications”, Chemistry – A European Journal, vol. 16, no. 22, pp. 6458-6462, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.200902974

[6] N. Liao, W. Xue, H. Zhou & M. Zhang, “Effects of BN content on the structural and mechanical properties of a-SiBN ceramics”, International Journal of Materials Research, vol. 104, no. 2, pp. 162-167, 2013. https://doi.org/10.3139/146.110851

[7] J. Al-Ghalith, A. Dasmahapatra, P. Kroll, E. Meletis & T. Dumitrica, “Compositional and Structural Atomistic Study of Amorphous Si-B-N Networks of Interest for High-Performance Coatings”, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, vol. 120, no. 42, pp. 24346-24353, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b07507

[8] A. Dasmahapatra & P. Kroll, “Computational study of impact of composition, density, and temperature on thermal conductivity of amorphous silicon boron nitride”, Journal of the American Ceramic Society, vol. 101, no. 8, pp. 3489-3497, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.15470

[9] N. T. Thao, C. D. Thanh, N. T. Trang & L. V. Vinh, “Structural properties and tensile deformation mechanism of amorphous Si3B3N7: Insights from molecular dynamics simulations”, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol. 615, p. 122431, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2023.122431

[10] M. Durandurdu, “Phase-separated amorphous Si2BN: A computational study”, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 137, no. 6, p. 065104, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0244715

[11] C. M. Marian, M. Gastreich & J. D. Gale, “Empirical two-body potential for solid silicon nitride, boron nitride, and borosilazane modifications”, Physical Review B, vol. 62, pp. 3117-3124, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.62.3117

[12] H. J. C. Berendsen, J. P. M. Postma, W. F. van Gunsteren, A. DiNola & J. R. Haak, “Molecular dynamics with coupling to an external bath”, The Journal of Chemical Physics, vol. 81, no. 8, pp. 3684-3690, 1984. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.448118

[13] D. Faken & H. Jonsson, “Systematic analysis of local atomic structure combined with 3D computer graphics”, Computational Materials Science, vol. 2, no. 2, p. 279, 1994. https://doi.org/10.1016/0927-0256(94)90109-0

[14] A. Stukowski, “Visualization and analysis of atomistic simulation data with OVITO–The open visualization tool”, Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 18, p. 015012, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1088/0965-0393/18/1/015012

[15] H. Yao, Q. Xu & J. Tang, “Synthesis and stability of cubic silicon nitride”, Advanced Materials Research, vol. 79-82, p. 1467, 2010. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.79-82.1467

[16] H. Lorenz & I. Orgzall, “Influence of the initial crystallinity on the high pressure–high temperature phase transition in boron nitride”, Acta Materialia, vol. 52, no. 7, pp. 1909-1916, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2003.12.030

[17] J. Z. Jiang, K. Stahl, R. W. Berg, D. J. Frost, T. J. Zhou & P. X. Shi, “Structural characterization of cubic silicon nitride”, Europhysics Letters, vol. 51, no. 1, p. 62, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i2000-00337-8

[18] S. Roy, X. Zhang, A. B. Puthirath, A. Meiyazhagan, S. Bhattacharyya, M. M. Rahman, G. Babu, S. Susarla, S. K. Saju, M. K. Tran, L. M. Sassi, M. A. S. R. Saadi, J. Lai, O. Sahin, S. M. Sajadi, B. Dharmarajan, D. Salpekar, N. Chakingal, A. Baburaj, X. Shuai, A. Adumbumkulath, K. A. Miller, J. M. Gayle, A. Ajnsztajn, T. Prasankumar, V. V. J. Harikrishnan, V. Ojha, H. Kannan, A. Z. Khater, Z. Zhu, S. A. Iyengar, P. A. d. S. Autreto, E. F. Oliveira, G. Gao, A. G. Birdwell, M. R. Neupane, T. G. Ivanov, J. Taha-Tijerina, R. M. Yadav, S. Arepalli, R. Vajtai & P. M. Ajayan, “Structure, Properties and Applications of Two-Dimensional Hexagonal Boron Nitride”, Advanced Materials, vol. 33, no. 44, p. 2101589, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202101589

Downloads

Published

30-06-2026

How to Cite

Cong Thanh, D., & Van Vinh, L. (2026). STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES AND CRYSTALLIZATION OF DENSIFIED BORON SILICON NITRIDE: INSIGHTS FROM MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATION. HNUE Journal of Science: Journal of Natural Sciences, 71(2), 45-52. https://doi.org/10.18173/2354-1059.2026-0019