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Avalanche criticality in LaAlO[Formula: see text] and the effect of aspect ratio.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Scott, John JR 
Casals, Blai 
Luo, King-Fa 
Haq, Atta 
Mariotti, Davide 

Abstract

Ferroic domain dynamics, as a function of external stimuli, can be collectively described as scale-invariant avalanches characterised by a critical exponent that are sensitive to the complexity of the domain microstructure. The understanding and manipulation of these avalanches lies at the heart of developing novel applications such as neuromorphic computing. Here we combine in situ heating optical observations and mean-field analysis to investigate the collective domain behaviour in pure-ferroelastic lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO[Formula: see text]) as a function of aspect ratio, the ratio of sample length to width, where the movement of the domains is predominantly driven by thermal stresses via thermal expansion/contraction during heat cycling. Our observations demonstrate that the aspect ratio induces (1) distinctive domain microstructures at room temperature, (2) a deviation of dynamical behaviour at high temperatures and (3) critical exponent mixing in the higher aspect ratio samples that accompanies this behaviour. While the critical exponents of each aspect ratio fall within mean-field predicted values, we highlight the effect that the aspect ratio has in inducing exponent mixing. Hence, furthering our understanding towards tuning and controlling avalanches which is crucial for fundamental and applied research.

Description

Keywords

51 Physical Sciences, 5103 Classical Physics

Journal Title

Sci Rep

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2045-2322
2045-2322

Volume Title

12

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/P024904/1)