Kinetic Arrest of a First Order Phase Transition
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866918445930512384 |
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| author | Roy, Sindhunil Barman |
| author_facet | Roy, Sindhunil Barman |
| contents | We report a phenomenological theory for the kinetic arrest (KA) of a first-order phase transition, taking the Mott metal-insulator transition in $V_2O_3$ as a test case. By defining a order parameter $ϕ$ related to the monoclinic distortion of the high temperature metallic and mapping its Time-Dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) dynamics onto a disorder-influenced Imry-Wortis landscape, we derive a universal transcendental condition for the mechanism of the kinetic arrest. We demonstrate that epitaxial substrate-induced clamping in (001)-oriented $V_2O_3$ thin films elevates the elastic activation barriers, trapping the high-symmetry corundum phase down to 4.2~K. This structural suppression of the insulating state robustly explains the observed hysteretic $V$-$I$ switching a hallmark of memristive behaviour. Our work identifies a "Mott-Glass" as a structurally arrested non-equilibrium state in the strained thin-film of V$_2$O$_3$. Our work provides a predictive framework for engineering strain-tuned neuromorphic synapses. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_12531 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Kinetic Arrest of a First Order Phase Transition Roy, Sindhunil Barman Materials Science We report a phenomenological theory for the kinetic arrest (KA) of a first-order phase transition, taking the Mott metal-insulator transition in $V_2O_3$ as a test case. By defining a order parameter $ϕ$ related to the monoclinic distortion of the high temperature metallic and mapping its Time-Dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) dynamics onto a disorder-influenced Imry-Wortis landscape, we derive a universal transcendental condition for the mechanism of the kinetic arrest. We demonstrate that epitaxial substrate-induced clamping in (001)-oriented $V_2O_3$ thin films elevates the elastic activation barriers, trapping the high-symmetry corundum phase down to 4.2~K. This structural suppression of the insulating state robustly explains the observed hysteretic $V$-$I$ switching a hallmark of memristive behaviour. Our work identifies a "Mott-Glass" as a structurally arrested non-equilibrium state in the strained thin-film of V$_2$O$_3$. Our work provides a predictive framework for engineering strain-tuned neuromorphic synapses. |
| title | Kinetic Arrest of a First Order Phase Transition |
| topic | Materials Science |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.12531 |