Abstract
The physical properties that make “functional” materials worthy of their moniker frequently arise because of a phase transition that establishes a new kind of order as the material is cooled from a parent state. Such ordered states include ferroelectrics, ferromagnets, and structurally ordered martensites; because these states all break an orientational symmetry, and it is rare that one can produce the conditions for single domain crystallinity, the observed configuration is generally heterogeneous. However, the conditions under which domain structures form are highly constrained, especially by elastic interactions within a solid; consequently, the observed structures are far from fully random, even if disorder is present. Often the structure of the heterogeneity is important to the function, as in shape-memory alloys. Increasingly, we are surprised to discover new phases inside solids that are themselves a heterogeneous modulation of their parents.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
K. Ahn, T. Lookman, A.R. Bishop, Nature 428, 401 (2004).
N. Mathur, P. Littlewood, Nat. Mater. 3, 207 (2004).
K. Bhattacharya, Microstructure of Martensite (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003).
E.K.H. Salje, Phase Transitions in Ferroelastic and Coelastic Solids (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990).
M. Porta, T. Castán, P. Lloveras, T. Lookman, A. Saxena, S.R. Shenoy, Phys. Rev. B 79, 214117 (2009).
P. Chandra, P.B. Littlewood, Topics in Applied Physics 105, 69–116 (2007).
J.M. Yeomans, Statistical Mechanics of Phase Transitions (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1992).
K. Binder, D.W. Heermann, Monte Carlo Simulations in Statistical Physics (Springer, New York, 2007).
S.R. Shenoy, T. Lookman, Phys. Rev. B 78, 144103 (2008).
S. Sarkar, X. Ren, K. Otsuka, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 205702 (2005).
K.H. Fischer, J. Hertz, Spin Glasses (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991). D. Chowdhury, Spin Glasses and Other Frustrated Systems (World Scientific, Singapore, 1986).
T. Lookman, S.R. Shenoy, K.Ø. Rasmussen, A. Saxena, A.R. Bishop, Phys. Rev. B 67, 024114 (2003).
K.H. Ahn, T. Lookman, A. Saxena, A.R. Bishop, Phys. Rev. B 68, 092101 (2003).
L. Vasiliu-Doloc, S. Rosenkranz, R. Osborn, S.K. Sinha, J.W. Lynn, J. Mesot, O.H. Seeck, G. Preosti, A.J. Fedro, J.F. Mitchell, Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 4393 (1999).
Z. Islam, X. Liu, S.K. Sinha, J.C. Lang, S.C. Moss, D. Haskel, G. Srajer, P. Wochner, D.R. Lee, D.R. Haeffner, U. Welp, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93157008 (2004).
P. Maniadis, T. Lookman, A.R. Bishop, Phys. Rev. B 78, 134304 (2008).
K.H. Ahn, J-X. Zhu, Z. Nussinov, T. Lookman, A. Saxena, A.V. Balatsky, A.R. Bishop, J. Supercond. 17, 7–13 (2004).
B.S. Guiton, P.K. Davies, Nat. Mat. 6, 586 (2007).
S. Yeo, Y. Horibe, S. Mori, C.M. Tseng, C.H. Chen, A.G. Khachaturyan, C.L. Zhang, S.-W. Cheong, Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 233120 (2006).
Y. Le Bouar, A. Loiseau, A.G. Khachaturyan, Acta Mater. 46, 2777 (1998).
T. Waitz, H.P. Karnthaler, Acta Mater. 52, 5461 (2004).
A.S. Kartha, T. Castán, J.A. Krumhansl, J.P. Sethna, Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 3630 (1991).
Y. Wang, X. Ren, K. Otsuka, Materials Science Forum 583, 67 (2008).
X. Ren, Y. Wang, Y. Zhou, Z. Zhang, D. Wang, G. Fan, K. Otsuka, T. Suzuki, Y. Ji, J. Zhang, Y. Tian, S. Hou, X. Ding, Phil. Mag. (2009), in press.
E. Dagotto, T. Hotta, A. Moreo, Phys. Rep. 344, 1 (2001).
M.B. Salamon, M. Jaime, Rev. Mod. Phys. 73, 583 (2001).
G.C. Milward, M.J. Calderon, P.B. Littlewood, Nature 433, 607 (2005).
S.E. Rowley, L.J. Spalek, R.P. Smith, M.P.M. Dean, G.G. Lonzarich, J.F. Scott, S.S. Saxena, arXiv:0903.1445 (2009).
G.S. Pawley, W. Cochran, R.A. Cowley, R.G. Dolling, Phys. Rev. Lett. 17, 753 (1966).
R. Jaramillo, Y. Feng, J.C. Lang, Z. Islam, G. Srajer, P.B. Littlewood, D.B. McWhan, T.F. Rosenbaum, Nature 459, 405 (2009).
L. Palova, P. Chandra, P. Coleman, Phys. Rev. B 79, 075101 (2009).
J.M. Perez-Mato, E.K.H. Salje, J. Phys. Condens. Matter 12, L29 (2000).
D. Lencer, M. Salinga, B. Grabowski, T. Hickel, J. Neugebauer, M. Wuttig, Nat. Mater. 7, 972 (2008).
C. Manolikas, S. Amelinckx, Phys. Status Solidi A 60, 607 (1980).
C. Manolikas, S. Amelinckx, Phys. Status Solidi A 61, 179 (1980).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lookman, T., Littlewood, P. Nanoscale Heterogeneity in Functional Materials. MRS Bulletin 34, 822–831 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs2009.232
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs2009.232