Size effects on supercooling phenomena in strongly correlated electron systems: IrTe$_2$ and $\theta$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$RbZn(SCN)$_4$

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that reducing the size of strongly correlated electron systems enhances supercooling, explained by nucleation theory, and verified experimentally in IrTe$_2$ and $ heta$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$RbZn(SCN)$_4$, with implications for small-volume phase transitions.

Contribution

The paper provides a theoretical and experimental analysis of size effects on supercooling in strongly correlated electron systems, highlighting size-dependent nucleation mechanisms.

Findings

Size reduction increases supercooling in studied materials.

Nucleation rate depends on sample volume and surface area.

Size effects are material-independent and relevant for small samples.

Abstract

We report that the sample miniaturization of first-order-phase-transition bulk systems causes a greater degree of supercooling. From a theoretical perspective, the size effects can be rationalized by considering two mechanisms: (i) the nucleation is a rare and stochastic event, and thus, its rate is correlated with the volume and/or surface area of a given sample; (ii) when the sample size decreases, the dominant heterogeneous nucleation sites that play a primary role for relatively large samples are annealed out. We experimentally verified the size effects on the supercooling phenomena for two different types of strongly correlated electron systems: the transition-metal dichalcogenide IrTe$_2$ and the organic conductor $\theta$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$RbZn(SCN)$_4$. The origin of the size effects considered in this study does not depend on microscopic details of the material; therefore, they may often be involved in the first-order-transition behavior of small-volume specimens.