Time scale for the onset of Fickian diffusion in supercooled liquids

Abstract

We propose a quantitative measure of a time scale on which Fickian diffusion sets in for supercooled liquids and use Brownian Dynamics computer simulations to determine the temperature dependence of this onset time in a Lennard-Jones binary mixture. The time for the onset of Fickian diffusion ranges between 6.5 and 31 times the $α$ relaxation time (the $α$ relaxation time is the characteristic relaxation time of the incoherent intermediate scattering function). The onset time increases faster with decreasing temperature than the $α$ relaxation time. Mean squared displacement at the onset time increases with decreasing temperature.