Spatial heterogeneity in liquid–liquid phase transition

Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to investigate the liquid–liquid phase transition(LLPT) and the spatial heterogeneity in Al–Pb monotectic alloys. The results reveal that homogeneous liquid Al–Pb alloy undergoes an LLPT,separating into Al-rich and Pb-rich domains, which is quite different from the isocompositional liquid water with a transition between low-density liquid(LDL) and high-density liquid(HDL). With spatial heterogeneity becoming large, LLPT takes place correspondingly. The relationship between the cooling rate, relaxation temperature and percentage of Al and the spatial heterogeneity is also reported. This study may throw light on the relationship between the structure heterogeneity and LLPT, which provides novel strategies to control the microstructures in the fabrication of the material with high performance.     

Nonextensive nuclear liquid–gas phase transition

We study an effective relativistic mean-field model of nuclear matter with arbitrary proton fraction at finite temperature in the framework of nonextensive statistical mechanics, characterized by power-law quantum distributions. We investigate the presence of thermodynamic instability in a warm and asymmetric nuclear medium and study the consequent nuclear liquid–gas phase transition by requiring the Gibbs conditions on the global conservation of baryon number and electric charge fraction. We show that nonextensive statistical effects play a crucial role in the equation of state and in the formation of mixed phase also for small deviations from the standard Boltzmann–Gibbs statistics.     

Temperature range of the liquid–glass transition

It has been shown that the currently used method for calculating the temperature range of δT_g in the glass transition equation qτ_g = δT_g as the difference δT_g = (T₁₂–T₁₃) results in overestimated values, which is explained by the assumption of a constant activation energy of glass transition in deriving the calculation equation (T₁₂ and T₁₃ are the temperatures corresponding to the logarithmic viscosity values of logη = 12 and logη = 13). The methods for the evaluation of δT_g using the Williams–Landel–Ferry equation and the model of delocalized atoms are considered, the results of which are in satisfactory agreement with the product qτ_g (q is the cooling rate of the melt and τ_g is the structural relaxation time at the glass transition temperature). The calculation of τ_g for inorganic glasses and amorphous organic polymers is proposed.     

Temperature dependence of birefringence of atactic polystyrene: The liquid—liquid transition

The birefringence of solvent-cast atactic polystyrene films was measured as a function of annealing temperature. The birefringence was found to disappear at a temperature which corresponds to the liquid-liquid transition, as measured by differential scanning calorimetry. It is concluded that this experiment is a proof of the molecular origin of the liquid-liquid transition.     

Quantum spin liquid near Mott transition with fermionized π-vortices

In this paper, we study the non-magnetic insulator state near Mott transition of 2D π-flux Hubbard model on square lattice and find that such non-magnetic insulator state is quantum spin liquid state with nodal fermionic excitations – nodal spin liquid (NSL). When there exists small easy-plane anisotropic energy, the ground state becomes Z ₂ topological spin liquid (TSL) with full gapped excitations. The U(1) × U(1) mutual-Chern-Simons (MCS) theory is obtained to describe the low energy physics of NSL and TSL.     

Solidification mechanism transition of liquid Co–Cu–Ni ternary alloy

We report a solidification mechanism transition of liquid ternary Co₄₅Cu₄₅Ni₁₀ alloy when it solidifies at a critical undercooling of about 344 K. When undercooling at ΔT<344 K, the solidification process is characterized by primary S (Co) dendritic growth and a subsequent peritectic transition. The dendritic growth velocity of S (Co) dendrite increases with the rise of undercooling. However, once ΔT>344 K, the solidification velocity decreases with the increase of undercooling. In this case, liquid/liquid phase separation takes place prior to solidification. The minor L₂ (Cu) droplets hinder the motion of the solidification front, and a monotectic transition may occur in the major L₁ phase. These facts caused by metastable phase separation are responsible for the slow growth at high undercoolings.     

Fréedericksz transition in confined liquid crystals: concentration and microgeometry effects

The Fréedericksz transition in dispersions of liquid-crystal droplets is studied analytically by balancing the electrostatic energy of the droplets with a strong anchoring elastic energy. Explicit dependence of the transition threshold field on the liquid-crystal volume fraction and the spatial arrangement of the droplets is obtained for the first time. As a result of the confined geometry, this threshold field does not depend on the thickness of the sample and splitting of the transition occurs in some situations.     

The reassessment of the structural transition regions along the liquidus of Fe–Si alloys and a possible liquid–liquid structural transition in FeSi2 alloy

We reassessed the structural transition regions along the liquidus of Fe–Si alloys by using ab initio molecular dynamics simulation. Except for 50 at.% Si, structural transition compositions are found at both 30 at.% Si and 67 at.% Si (FeSi₂) which are eutectic alloys. We demonstrated that the liquid structure in the sub-region of 0～30 at.% Si is close-packed, and in the sub-region of 67～100 at.% Si liquid alloys have very open structure. From 30 at.% Si to 67 at.% Si, the close-packed structure gradually change into open one. These structure transition sub-regions are also supported by the formation enthalpy of liquid alloys. Furthermore, the predicted enthalpy change between 1585 K and 1873 K is so large that there is probably liquid–liquid transition with temperature at FeSi₂ alloy which is an important thermoelectric material. Discussions have been made on the materials phenomenon of several Fe–Si alloys based on the structural information.     

Liquid–liquid structure transition in Sn–3.5Ag–3.5Bi melts

The liquid–liquid structure transition (LLST) as the function of temperature and time in Sn–3.5Ag–3.5Bi melts was investigated with the help of direct current four-probe method. The LLST which occurs during first cycle heating of two cycles heating/cooling experiments can divide into two different structure changes: irreversible LLST of 650°C isothermal and step reversible LLST at 770°C–806°C on subsequent heating process. Obvious kinetic phenomena are observed during isothermal experiments. Irreversible and reversible LLST are analysed from the viewpoint of short-range order. These results will help to understand the law and mechanism of liquid field, and provide some scientific reference for the innovation of lead-free solder manufacturing.     

Experimental evidence of the ferroelectric nature of the λ-point transition in liquid water

We studied the dielectric properties of nano-sized liquid water samples confined in polymerized silicates MCM-41 characterized by pore sizes 3–10 nm. Freezing temperature suppression in nanopores helps keep the water samples in liquid form at temperatures well below 0°C and thus effectively study the properties of supercooled liquid water. We report the first direct measurements of the dielectric constant by the dielectric spectroscopy method and demonstrate very clear signatures of the second-order phase transition of ferroelectric nature at temperatures next to the λ-point in the supercooled bulk water in full agreement with the recently developed model of the polar liquid.     

Observation of cancellation and second light-induced Fréedericksz transition in nematic liquid crystals

We describe the observation of a new phenomenon: the cancellation of molecular reorientation that has been achieved in nematic liquid crystals acted on by two competing (pulsed) light beams. The effect is unstable: Starting from the cancellation condition, we have observed patterns related to the presence of a nonlinear phase shift in both beams when their intensity was increased simultaneously. We characterize the behavior of the induced phase shift as a function of the impinging power.     

Determination of the vapor–liquid transition of square-well particles using a novel generalized-canonical-ensemble-based method

The square-well(SW) potential is one of the simplest pair potential models and its phase behavior has been clearly revealed, therefore it has become a benchmark for checking new theories or numerical methods. We introduce the generalized canonical ensemble(GCE) into the isobaric replica exchange Monte Carlo(REMC) algorithm to form a novel isobaric GCE-REMC method, and apply it to the study of vapor–liquid transition of SW particles. It is validated that this method can reproduce the vapor–liquid diagram of SW particles by comparing the estimated vapor–liquid binodals and the critical point with those from the literature. The notable advantage of this method is that the unstable vapor–liquid coexisting states,which cannot be detected using conventional sampling techniques, are accessed with a high sampling efficiency. Besides,the isobaric GCE-REMC method can visit all the possible states, including stable, metastable or unstable states during the phase transition over a wide pressure range, providing an effective pathway to understand complex phase transitions during the nucleation or crystallization process in physical or biological systems.     

Electrically controlled local Frédericksz transition in a layer of a nematic liquid crystal

A local Frédericksz transition caused by electrically controlled surface anchoring in a nematic liquid crystal has been implemented owing to the displacement of surface-active ions. In the initial case, the nematic is homeotropically aligned by monomolecular layers of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide cations adsorbed on the surface of substrates. One of the substrates in a static electric field becomes free of a cation layer and specifies planar boundary conditions; as a result, a homeoplanar orientation structure is formed. The features of the dynamics of the optical response of the cell under study that are characteristic of the effect under consideration are discussed.     

Kinetics of the isotropic–nematic phase transition in melted multi-component liquid crystal mixtures upon cooling

The kinetics of the phase separation and the nematic phase growth in two melted commercial multi-component liquid crystal mixtures upon cooling was studied using polarising optical microscopy and IR spectrometry. The droplets of the nematic phase revealed in the optical images across the phase transition were segmented and treated statistically. In the resulting size histograms of mixture B, two overlapping statistical ensembles related to two co-existing nematic phases were recognised; these phases were shown to be different in their chemical structures. In mixture A, any separation within the nematic phase was not found. The statistical ensembles of the nematic droplets were successfully described using the principles of irreversible thermodynamics. Analysis of the mean droplet diameter as a function of time allowed recognition of two regimes of the nematic phase evolution: (1) nucleation and rapid nucleus growth and (2) nucleus coalescence. Both the regimes were quantitatively described with the universal law for the cluster growth.     

Ideal gas/liquid transition as a generalization of the problem of “partitio numerorum”

It is shown that the Boltzmann-Maxwell distribution is not applicable to the generalized notion of ideal gas and corresponds to this ideal gas at low density only. The behavior of an ideal gas and its transition to liquid is studied as a result of a kind of generalization of the problem of ??partitio numerorum??. The reflection of particles of the ideal gas from the walls of the vessel walls is taken into account (as a kind of ??trap?? for the Bose gas). Two constants are additionally introduced, namely, the constant ?? inversely proportional to the mass and the heat g of the phase transition as T ?? 0 (the constant of the Clausius-Clapeyron relation), and also the experimental value of the critical compressibility factor for the given gas and the experimental value of the pressure at the triple point, from which one can find the value of the constant ??.     

First-order Fréedericksz transition and front propagation in a liquid crystal light valve with feedback

Fréedericksz transition can become subcritical in the presence of a feedback mechanism that leads to the dependence of the local electric field onto the liquid crystal re-orientation angle. We have characterized experimentally the first-order Fréedericksz transition in a Liquid Crystal Light Valve with optical feedback. The bistability region is determined, together with the Fréedericksz transition point and the Maxwell point. We show the propagation of fronts connecting the different metastable states and we estimate the front velocity. Theoretically, we derive an amplitude equation, valid close to the Fréedericksz transition point, which accounts for the subcritical character of the bifurcation.Received: 21 October 2003, Published online: 6 January 2004PACS: 05.45.-a Nonlinear dynamics and nonlinear dynamical systems - 64.60.-i General studies of phase transitions     

Field induced modification of SmC1–SmCA1 transition temperature of a fluorinated antiferroelectric liquid crystal

The temperature and frequency dependent dielectric relaxation data and simultaneous observation of optical texture reveal co-existence of ferroelectric (SmC¹) and antiferroelectric (SmC_A¹) phases in the pre-transition regime of the antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) sample viz. (R)-4-[1-methyl-2-(2,2,3,3,3-pentafluoropropyloxy)ethyloxy)carbonyl]phenyl 4′-decyloxybiphenyl-4-caboxylate. Interestingly, this sample shows irreversible change in the antiferroelectric to ferroelectric (AFE → FE) phase transition temperature (T₀) for consecutively increasing bias field treatment in successive cycles. The lowest upper bound of the threshold field for AFE → FE transition at the boundary of the said phases is found to be ∼1 kV cm⁻¹.