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. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2010
Phase transitions driven by competing interactions in low-dimensional systems
FRANCHINI, CESARE;
2010-01-01
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. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2010I metadati presenti in IRIS UNICA sono rilasciati con licenza Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal, mentre i file delle pubblicazioni sono protetti da diritto d'autore, salvo diversa indicazione.



