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arXiv · 2503.10417

Symmetry Breaking during Low-Temperature Domain Formation in Micron-sized Magnetite Crystals

Yue Dong·David Yang·Jialun Liu·Aly Abdeldaim·Wei Wang·Ian Robinson
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Abstract

We report the results of synchrotron Bragg Coherent X-ray Diffraction Imaging (BCDI) experiments to investigate domain formation in a micron-sized magnetite crystal undergoing the Verwey transition at low temperature. A strong splitting of the measured 311 Bragg reflection was observed in the low-temperature phase, indicating the formation of domains. BCDI revealed pronounced strain distributions, characterized by a clear layered stripe domain structure in real-space. Stripes were seen only along the [001] crystallographic direction, normal to the substrate surface direction, breaking the symmetry of the cubic high-temperature phase. It is argued that other domain directions were suppressed by the sample mounting orientation. More surprisingly, only a single domain orientation was observed, suggesting an additional symmetry-breaking influence originating from the shape of the crystal.

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Yue Dong, David Yang, Jialun Liu, Aly Abdeldaim, Wei Wang, Ian Robinson. 2025-03-13. Symmetry Breaking during Low-Temperature Domain Formation in Micron-sized Magnetite Crystals. https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.10417

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