Manganite films: Tuning phase diagrams

A phase diagram is a graphical representation of the physical states of a substance under different conditions of temperature and pressure. It shows the boundaries between solid, liquid, and gas phases and the conditions at which these phases coexist in equilibrium. An area in a phase diagram represents a single phase, whereas lines or phase boundaries represent the equilibrium between two phases.In the phase diagram of water, the boundary line between the solid and liquid states illustrates...

The phase of a given substance depends on the pressure and temperature. Thus, plots of pressure versus temperature showing the phase in each region provide considerable insights into the thermal properties of substances. Such plots are known as phase diagrams. For instance, in the phase diagram for water (Figure 1), the solid curve boundaries between the phases indicate phase transitions (i.e., temperatures and pressures at which the phases coexist).

A phase diagram combines plots of pressure versus temperature for the liquid-gas, solid-liquid, and solid-gas phase-transition equilibria of a substance. These diagrams indicate the physical states that exist under specific conditions of pressure and temperature and also provide the pressure dependence of the phase-transition temperatures (melting points, sublimation points, boiling points). Regions or areas labeled solid, liquid, and gas represent single phases, while lines or curves represent...

Consider a ternary system, which is composed of three components: water (W), ethanoic acid (E), and trichloromethane (T). Here, Ethanoic acid (E) is fully miscible with both water (W) and trichloromethane (T), meaning it can mix entirely with either of them. However, water and trichloromethane have partial miscibility, meaning they can only mix to a certain extent, beyond which two separate phases will form.The phase diagram of a ternary system is represented as an equilateral triangle, where...

The temperature-composition phase diagram of two solids, A and B, which are immiscible in the solid phase but form miscible liquids, shows that when the temperature is low, these two exist as separate, pure solids (A and B). As the temperature increases, they transition into a single-phase liquid solution where A and B coexist. Moving from point a1 to a2 in the phase diagram, the composition changes such that solid B begins to separate from the solution, enriching the remaining liquid with A.

Some solids can transition directly into the gaseous state, bypassing the liquid state, via a process known as sublimation. At room temperature and standard pressure, a piece of dry ice (solid CO2) sublimes, appearing to gradually disappear without ever forming any liquid. Snow and ice sublimate at temperatures below the melting point of water, a slow process that may be accelerated by winds and the reduced atmospheric pressures at high altitudes. When solid iodine is warmed, the solid sublimes...