Phase transitions driven by competing interactions in low-dimensional systems

Author(s)
Michael Cordin, B. A. J. Lechner, Peter Amann, Alexander Menzel, Erminald Bertel, Cesare Franchini, Rinaldo Zucca, Josef Redinger, Mikhail Baranov, Sebastian Diehl
Abstract

Variable-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy is used to study an order-order phase transition in a virtually defect-free quasi-one-dimensional surface system. The phase transition is driven by competing electronic interactions. The phase diagram is captured by a modified Landau formalism containing a coupling term between two different subsystems. The extra term has the effect of a spontaneously generated field which drives the phase transition. The proposed formalism applies to a variety of problems, where competing interactions produce sometimes counter-intuitive ordering phenomena.

Organisation(s)
Computational Materials Physics
External organisation(s)
Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, Technische Universität Wien, Center for Computational Materials Science, CMS, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW)
Journal
Europhysics Letters
Volume
92
No. of pages
5
ISSN
0295-5075
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/92/26004
Publication date
2010
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103018 Materials physics
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/933247de-4b88-414f-9667-33694e798443