Evidence of kinetically arrested supercooled phases in the pervoskite oxide NdNiO$_3$

TL;DR

This study reveals that NdNiO$_3$ exhibits phase separation into supercooled metallic and insulating phases with kinetic arrest, leading to out-of-equilibrium behavior and glassy states observable through thermopower measurements.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence of kinetically arrested supercooled phases in NdNiO$_3$, highlighting their dynamical behavior and phase transformation characteristics.

Findings

Phase separation into metallic and insulating states below transition temperature

Supercooled metallic phases become kinetically arrested in a glassy state

Arrested states dearest above 150 K, causing reappearance of time dependence

Abstract

We report the time and temperature dependent response of thermopower in the non-magnetic perovskite oxide NdNiO$_3$. We find that on cooling below the metal-insulator transition temperature the system evolves into a phase separated state which consists of supercooled metallic and insulating phases. This phase separated state exhibits out of equilibrium features such as cooling rate dependence and time dependence. The existence of these dynamical features is attributed to the transformation of supercooled metallic phases to the insulating state. On cooling a small fraction of supercooled phases gets kinetically arrested in a glassy state and these supercooled phases remain in that state down to low temperature. In the heating cycle the arrested states dearrest above 150 K and this results in the reappearance of time dependent features.