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 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)] for systems with competing spatial modulations.
- Received 29 January 2019
- Revised 6 May 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.087603
© 2019 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Viewpoint
A Ferroelastic Film at the Edge of Chaos
Published 22 August 2019
Period doubling—a behavior seen in systems that are nearing a chaotic regime—shows up in the microstructure of a strain-textured material.
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