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Experimental observation of defect pair separation triggering phase transitions

Autor(en)
M. Cordin, B. A. J. Lechner, S. Duerrbeck, A. Menzel, E. Bertel, J. Redinger, C. Franchini
Abstrakt

First-order phase transitions typically exhibit a significant hysteresis resulting for instance in boiling retardation and supercooling. The hysteresis arises, because nucleation of the new phase is activated. The free-energy change is positive until the nucleus reaches a critical size beyond which further growth is downhill. In practice, the barrier is often circumvented by the presence of heterogeneous nucleation centres, e. g. at vessel walls or seed crystals. Recently, it has been proposed that the homogeneous melting of ice proceeds via separation of defect pairs with a substantially smaller barrier as compared to the mere aggregation of defects. Here we report the observation of an analogous mechanism catalysing a two-dimensional homogeneous phase transition. A similar process is believed to occur in spin systems. This suggests that separation of defect pairs is a common trigger for phase transitions. Partially circumventing the activation barrier it reduces the hysteresis and may promote fluctuations within a temperature range increasing with decreasing dimensionality.

Organisation(en)
Computergestützte Materialphysik
Externe Organisation(en)
Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, Technische Universität Wien
Journal
Scientific Reports
Band
4
Anzahl der Seiten
4
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04110
Publikationsdatum
03-2014
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
103009 Festkörperphysik, 103015 Kondensierte Materie, 103025 Quantenmechanik, 103036 Theoretische Physik
Schlagwörter
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/0cac27cf-2afe-4b28-99e8-311abec0a4eb