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Formation of metastable phases by spinodal decomposition

Author

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  • Ricard Alert

    (Departament de Física de la Matèria Condensada, Universitat de Barcelona
    Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems (UBICS), Universitat de Barcelona)

  • Pietro Tierno

    (Departament de Física de la Matèria Condensada, Universitat de Barcelona
    Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems (UBICS), Universitat de Barcelona
    Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, Universitat de Barcelona)

  • Jaume Casademunt

    (Departament de Física de la Matèria Condensada, Universitat de Barcelona
    Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems (UBICS), Universitat de Barcelona)

Abstract

Metastable phases may be spontaneously formed from other metastable phases through nucleation. Here we demonstrate the spontaneous formation of a metastable phase from an unstable equilibrium by spinodal decomposition, which leads to a transient coexistence of stable and metastable phases. This phenomenon is generic within the recently introduced scenario of the landscape-inversion phase transitions, which we experimentally realize as a structural transition in a colloidal crystal. This transition exhibits a rich repertoire of new phase-ordering phenomena, including the coexistence of two equilibrium phases connected by two physically different interfaces. In addition, this scenario enables the control of sizes and lifetimes of metastable domains. Our findings open a new setting that broadens the fundamental understanding of phase-ordering kinetics, and yield new prospects of applications in materials science.

Suggested Citation

  • Ricard Alert & Pietro Tierno & Jaume Casademunt, 2016. "Formation of metastable phases by spinodal decomposition," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13067
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13067
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