Experimental evidence for stochastic switching of supercooled phases

TL;DR

This study provides experimental evidence of stochastic switching in supercooled phases during a first-order phase transition in a correlated electron system, highlighting the universal nature of these dynamics in small samples.

Contribution

It demonstrates the observation of stochastic supercooled metallic to insulating phase switching in sub-micrometer NdNiO3 samples, emphasizing the universal behavior independent of material specifics.

Findings

Supercooled metallic phases with over 40 K of supercooling observed.

Phase transition switching occurs randomly at different temperatures and times.

Universal behavior suggested, influenced by sample size and external parameters.

Abstract

First-order phase transition in a highly correlated electron system can manifest as a dynamic phenomenon. The presence of multiple domains of the coexisting phases average out the dynamical effects making it nearly impossible to predict the exact nature of phase transition dynamics. Here we report the metal-insulator transition in samples of sub-micrometer size NdNiO3 where the effect of averaging is minimized by restricting the number of domains under study. We observe the presence of supercooled metallic phases with supercooling of 40 K or more. The transformation from supercooled metallic to insulating state is a stochastic process that happens at different temperature and time in different experimental runs. The experimental results are understood without incorporating material specific properties suggesting their universal nature. The size of the sample needed to observe individual switching of supercooled domains, the degree of supercooling, and the time-temperature window of switching is expected to depend on the parameters such as quenched disorder, strain, magnetic field etc.