Noise-Induced Defects in Honeycomb Lattice Structure: A Phase-Field Crystal Study

One of the classes of the kinetic phase-field model in the form of the two-mode hyperbolic phase-field crystal model (modified PFC model) is used for the study of the noise effect of the crystalline structure. Special attention is paid to the origin of the defect's microstructure in the crystalline honeycomb lattice due to induced colored noise. It shows that the noise-time correlation coefficient tau zeta, comparable to the diffusion time, enhances the grain boundary mobilities. Instead, a small spatial correlation coefficient, lambda zeta, close to the first lattice parameter of the honeycomb crystal, stabilizes the structure. The finite non-zero value of the relaxation time tau for the atomic flux significantly slows the local relaxation of the fluctuated field and leads to the grains' fragmentation and formation of the disordered phases. The obtained results are applicable to the hexagonal atomic structures and, in particular, to honeycomb crystals, such as boron nitride, in which the lattice defects might be simulated through the induced colored noise.