Field-induced phase transitions

Kadomtseva et al. (2000) measured thermal expansion and longitudinal and transverse magnetostriction in pulsed magnetic fields up to 25 T in Lai - Sr MnOj single crystals (x = 0.1,0.125 and 0.15). The results were ascribed to a suppression of the O phase and field-induced transitions to a new orbital-ordered ferromagnetic state. 

A phase transition can be induced also by a high electric field. This is, for instance, the case of the conversion of the non polar a form (form II) of PVDF to the polar 8 form (form lip) [31] (see Sect. 2.3). 

The response of liquid crystal molecular orientation to an electric field is another major characteristic utilised for many years in industrial applications [44] and more recently in studies of electrically-induced phase transitions [45]. The ability of the director to align along an external field again results from the electronic structure of the individual molecules. 

Various types of work in addition to pV work are frequently involved in experimental studies. Research on chemical equilibria for example may involve surfaces or phases at different electric or magnetic potentials [11], We will here look briefly at field-induced transitions, a topic of considerable interest in materials science. Examples are stress-induced formation of piezoelectric phases, electric polarization-induced formation of dielectrica and field-induced order-disorder transitions, such as for environmentally friendly magnetic refrigeration. 

In order to focus on the driving force for phase transitions induced by a magnetic field it is advantageous to use the magnetic flux density as an intensive variable. This can be achieved through what is called a Legendre transform [12], A transformed Helmholtz energy is defined as... 

The calculations of the stmcture of water between charged flat walls show that the density profile becomes asymmetric and that there is enhanced structuring. This enhanced structuring is intimately connected with the possibility of a continuous phase transition in quasi two-dimensional systems, a subject of recent intense interest. ° Most of the molecular dynamics computer simulations on the effects of an external field have been carried out in an attempt to clarify the field-induced restructuring of water molecules at the metal surface, for which recent experimental data have become available. ... 

The switching or memory phenomena induced by electric field application or photo irradiation have been studied on Mott insulators, charge ordered insulators, and N-I transition systems and were found to be fast phase transitions in general. For the former two systems, the phase transitions caused a pronounced change in reflectance and conductivity from insulating to metallic features. The third system also exhibited a change in conductivity and dielectric response connected with the transports of solitons and/or domain walls, dynamic dimerization, and... 

Sushko YV, Ito H, Ishiguro T, Horiuchi S, Saito G (1993) Magnetic-field-induced transition to resistive phase in superconducting k-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]C1. J Phys Soc Jpn 62 3372-3375... 

Photoinduced spin-related phenomena are a particularly important field of the solid-state photophysics, because fast spin switching is a prospective basis for applications in the field of spintronics. An illustrative example is the production of the metastable state of the iron propyltetrazole (ptz) complex [Fe(ptz)6](BF4)2 by laser light-induced excited spin-state trapping (LIESST) and the determination of the resulting structure by steady-state X-ray photodiffraction [68]. In another example, steady-state X-ray photodiffraction at cryogenic temperatures was successfully utilized to study photoinduced phase transition due to spin crossover in the tris(a-picolylamine)iron(II) complex [69]. The phase transition is accompanied by... 

This evidence suggests that neutral TCNQ is formed in a solid-state field induced phase transition when electric fields are applied to crystalline films of Cu-TCNQ grown on copper substrates. 

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