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Updated: May 24, 2026
Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
First-order reorientation transition of the flux-line lattice in CaAlSi
P K Biswas1, M R Lees, G Balakrishnan
1Physics Department, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom. P.K.Biswas@warwick.ac.uk
Abstract:
The flux-line lattice in CaAlSi has been studied by small-angle neutron scattering. A well-defined hexagonal flux-line lattice is seen just above H(c1) in an applied field of only 54 Oe. A 30° reorientation of this vortex lattice has been observed in a very low field of 200 Oe. This reorientation transition appears to be first-order and could be explained by nonlocal effects. The magnetic field dependence of the form factor is well-described by a single penetration depth of λ=1496(1) Å and a single coherence length of ξ=307(1) Å at 2 K. At 1.5 K, the penetration depth anisotropy is γ(λ)=2.7(1), with the field applied perpendicular to the c axis, and agrees with the coherence length anisotropy determined from critical field measurements.
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