Abstract
We report direct visualizations of the fluctuation and condensation phenomena in a phase transition of a one-dimensional (1D) system using scanning tunneling microscopy. The high-temperature (HT) and low-temperature (LT) phases are found to coexist on the nanometer scale near . Above , 1D LT-phase stripes fluctuate in the HT phase and coalesce into 2D islands with decreasing temperature. They condense to make the LT phase below . Small areas of the HT phase also exist below . The observed temperature-dependent evolution of the nanoscale inhomogeneities is consistent with the theoretical predictions for a second-order phase transition.
- Received 8 June 2005
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.116103
©2005 American Physical Society