Evolutionary techniques in atomistic simulation: Thin films and nanoparticles

Atomistic simulation has been employed to generate models with ever increasing structural complexity: often approaching those observed in real systems. Consequently, constructing such models 'by hand' becomes increasingly difficult and perhaps intractable. Accordingly, simulation methodologies, which facilitate some kind of structural evolution, are becoming more widespread. Central to these evolutionary methods is that the structures derived (potentially) depend solely on the interatomic potentials, rather than the intuition of the simulator. Here, we review some of the approaches developed.