Elucidating the atomistic mechanisms driving self-diffusion of amorphous Si during annealing

We have analyzed the atomic rearrangements underlying self-diffusion in\namorphous Si during annealing using tight-binding molecular dynamics\nsimulations. Two types of amorphous samples with different structural features\nwere used to analyze the influence of coordination defects. We have identified\nseveral types of atomic rearrangement mechanisms, and we have obtained an\neffective migration energy of around 1 eV. We found similar migration energies\nfor both types of samples, but higher diffusivities in the one with a higher\ninitial percentage of coordination defects.\n