A Be-W interatomic potential.

In this work, an interatomic potential for the beryllium-tungsten system is derived. It is the final piece of a potential puzzle, now containing all possible interactions between the fusion reactor materials beryllium, tungsten and carbon as well as the plasma hydrogen isotopes. The potential is suitable for plasma-wall interaction simulations and can describe the intermetallic Be(2)W and Be(12)W phases. The interaction energy between a Be surface and a W atom, and vice versa, agrees qualitatively with ab initio calculations. The potential can also reasonably describe Be(x)W(y) molecules with x, y = 1, 2, 3, 4.