Atomistic calculations of surface energy of spherical copper surfaces

Surface plays an important role in the physical and mechanical behavior of nanostructured materials and elements, however surface energy of curved solid surfaces has not been fully understood. In the present letter, surface energy of spherical particles and cavities in FCC copper is calculated by embedded atom method. The numerical simulations reveal that the distribution of atom energy is non-uniform on the curved surfaces. However, when the radius of spherical cavity or particle is larger than 4 nm, the average surface energy density keeps almost constant irrespective of its location and radius.