Dynamics of ferroelastic domains in crystals and ceramics

Movies of Domains under Dynamic Stress

LaAlO₃ undergoes a cubic to rhombohedral phase transition below 550 ^oC.

This is accompanied by a massive reduction in the Young's modulus due to the presence of transformation twins. The mobility of twin domains decreases rapidly below 200 ^oC due to wall-wall, wall-defect, and wall-surface interactions (domain freezing). We have studied domain freezing by combined mechanical spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and optical observation.

Here are a series of movies acquired in reflected light during dynamical mechanical analysis. They are all carried out at 1 Hz, apart from the bottom right hand movie, which was stressed at higher forces and at 0.4 Hz.