A comparison of crystal–melt interfacial free energies using different Al potentials

We have calculated the crystal-melt interfacial stiffnesses using simulations with three different interatomic potentials for Al, and from these derived the anisotropic crystal-melt interfacial free energies. We find that there is a strong dependence of the results on the potential, and that this dependence cannot be explained by the usual Turnbull relation between the interfacial free energy and the latent heat. The potentials which produce liquid structures in closer agreement with experiments give free energies in good agreement with nucleation data.