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Nucleation in Systems with Elastic Forces

W. Klein·T. Lookman·A. Saxena·D. Hatch
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Abstract

Systems with long-range interactions when quenced into a metastable state near the pseudo-spinodal exhibit nucleation processes that are quite different from the classical nucleation seen near the coexistence curve. In systems with long-range elastic forces the description of the nucleation process can be quite subtle due to the presence of bulk/interface elastic compatibility constraints. We analyze the nucleation process in a simple 2d model with elastic forces and show that the nucleation process generates critical droplets with a different structure than the stable phase. This has implications for nucleation in many crystal-crystal transitions and the structure of the final state.

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W. Klein, T. Lookman, A. Saxena, D. Hatch. 2001-07-02. Nucleation in Systems with Elastic Forces. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.88.085701

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