Abstract
Very sensitive responses to external forces are found near phase transitions. However, transition dynamics and preequilibrium phenomena are difficult to detect and control. We have observed that the equilibrium domain structure following a phase transition in ferroelectric and ferroelastic BaTiO3 is attained by halving of the domain periodicity multiple times. The process is reversible, with periodicity doubling as temperature is increased. This observation is reminiscent of the period-doubling cascades generally observed during bifurcation phenomena, and, thus, it conforms to the "spatial chaos" regime earlier proposed by Jensen and Bak [Phys. Scr. T 9, 64 (1985)PHSTER0281-184710.1088/0031-8949/1985/T9/009] for systems with competing spatial modulations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 087603 |
| Journal | Physical Review Letters |
| Volume | 123 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 22 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
The authors are grateful to Janusz Przeslawski, Marty Gregg, Jim Scott, and Yachin Yvry for the useful discussions. A.-S.-E., S.-D., and B.-N. acknowledge financial support from the alumni organization of the University of Groningen, De Aduarderking (Ubbo Emmius Fonds). Parts of this research were carried out at the light source Petra III at DESY, a member of the Helmholtz Association (HGF). G.-C. and N.-D. acknowledge Projects No. FIS2015-73932-JIN and No. MAT2016-77100-C2-1-P from the Spanish MINECO and Project No. 2017-SGR-579 from the Generalitat de Catalunya. All work at ICN2 is also supported by the Severo Ochoa Program (Grant No. SEV-2017-0706). The work at Penn State is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, under Award No. FG02-07ER46417 (J.-A.-Z. and L.-Q.-C.) and, partially, by a graduate fellowship from the 3M Company (J.-A.-Z.). The authors are grateful to Janusz Przeslawski, Marty Gregg, Jim Scott, and Yachin Yvry for the useful discussions. A. S. E., S. D., and B. N. acknowledge financial support from the alumni organization of the University of Groningen, De Aduarderking (Ubbo Emmius Fonds). Parts of this research were carried out at the light source Petra III at DESY, a member of the Helmholtz Association (HGF). G. C. and N. D. acknowledge Projects No. FIS2015-73932-JIN and No. MAT2016-77100-C2-1-P from the Spanish MINECO and Project No. 2017-SGR-579 from the Generalitat de Catalunya. All work at ICN2 is also supported by the Severo Ochoa Program (Grant No. SEV-2017-0706). The work at Penn State is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, under Award No. FG02-07ER46417 (J. A. Z. and L.-Q. C.) and, partially, by a graduate fellowship from the 3M Company (J. A. Z.).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Office of Basic Energy Sciences | |
| Severo Ochoa Program | SEV-2017-0706 |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| Human Growth Foundation | |
| 3M | |
| Basic Energy Sciences | |
| Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering | FG02-07ER46417 |
| Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council | EP/P024904/1 |
| Rijksuniversiteit Groningen | FIS2015-73932-JIN, MAT2016-77100-C2-1-P |
| Generalitat de Catalunya | |
| Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad | 2017-SGR-579 |
| Helmholtz Association |