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Ostwald ripening (coarsening)





3D-lattice kinetic Monte Carlo simulation
  • solubility scales with curvature (analogous to the Gibbs-Thomson equation); large particles grow at the expense of smaller ones (particle coarsening)
  • original paper: W. Ostwald, Z. Phys. Chem. 34 (1900) 495.
  • atomic dynamics is based on the conserved-order-parameter Ising model with nearest neighbor (NN) interaction JNN
  • f.c.c. lattice (12 NNs; JNN/kTc = 0.40837)
  • here: JNN/kT = 1.3; Natoms = 7128; Ri = 12 a (both clusters)
  • color key: coordination number from pink (monomers) to purple (12 NNs)
  • time is measured in Monte Carlo steps (MCS)
  • simulation cell: (128 × 128 × 128) a3 with periodic boundaries
  • further information on Wilhelm Ostwald on Wikipedia



  • Copyright: Dr. Lars Röntzsch, Dresden, GERMANY.