Asymmetric “melting” and “freezing” kinetics of the magnetostructural phase transition in B2-ordered FeRh epilayers
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT (United Kingdom)
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 (United States)
- Institute for Materials Research, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT (United Kingdom)
- Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973 (United States)
- ISIS, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0QX (United Kingdom)
Synchrotron X-ray diffraction was used to study the phase transformation processes during the magnetostructural transition in a B2-ordered FeRh (001)-oriented epilayer grown on MgO by sputtering. Out-of-plane lattice constant measurements within the hysteretic regime of the transition reveal a microstructure consistent with the coexistence of lattice-expanded and contracted phases in spatially distinct regions. It was found that the phase separation is more pronounced during cooling than heating. Furthermore, whilst lattice-expanded domains that span the height of the film can be undercooled by several kelvins, there is no equivalent superheating. This asymmetry between the cooling and heating processes in FeRh is consistent with the difference in the kinetics of generic freezing and melting transitions.
- OSTI ID:
- 22300012
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 23; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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