{
  "abstract": "Computational materials discovery commonly ranks candidate materials by their thermodynamic stability on the formation energy convex hull, yet many predicted-stable phases resist synthesis. We propose that solid-state synthesizability through interfacial-melt-mediated routes requires an additional thermodynamic condition: the interfacial melt at the target composition must itself remain locally stable against spinodal decomposition. We examine this in the classical Fe--B system, where thermodynamically stable FeB$_4$ has been reported under high-pressure synthesis but not in low-pressure synthesis attempts. Using melt--quench molecular dynamics driven by a fine-tuned machine-learning interatomic potential, we find that, at ambient pressure, the B-rich interfacial melt near the FeB$_4$ composition develops a concave free-energy landscape, signaling a demixing instability that is corroborated by the concentration--concentration structure factor and correlated with low-energy icosahedral and pentagonal-pyramidal boron motifs. In contrast to FeB$_4$, metastable Fe$_3$B and Fe$_{23}$B$_6$ remain synthesizable because their corresponding melts are stable. Applied pressure introduces a convex $PV$ contribution that strongly suppresses this instability, reducing the curvature at the FeB$_4$ composition to within the uncertainty of our fit at 1800~K, consistent with the experimental synthesis boundary. Comparison with CrB$_4$ further shows that weaker melt instability correlates with easier experimental synthesis. Interfacial-melt stability, which atomistic simulations can assess via the low-$k$ concentration--concentration structure factor, is thus proposed as a practical thermodynamic screening descriptor of synthesizability for AI-assisted materials discovery.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2606.22885",
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Zihan Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mengyi Chen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Qianxiao Li"
    },
    {
      "name": "Peichen Zhong"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/78h5km9chvpdz.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2606.22885",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "78h5km9chvpdz",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.22885",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.mtrl-sci"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2505|Machine Learning in Materials Science"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7165648951",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2606.22885",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-24",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/78h5km9chvpdz.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:24:11Z",
      "native_id": "2606.22885",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.22885"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:cond-mat.mtrl-sci",
      "subfield": "condensed-matter"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Interfacial melting as a thermodynamic indicator of solid-state synthesizability",
  "title_text": "Interfacial melting as a thermodynamic indicator of solid-state synthesizability",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:24:11Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/78h5km9chvpdz",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}