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Phase Transitions

Phase Transitions

Whether solid, liquid, or gas, a substance's state depends on the order and arrangement of its particles (atoms, molecules, or ions). Particles in the solid pack closely together, generally in a pattern. The particles vibrate about their fixed positions but do not move or squeeze past their neighbors. In liquids, although the particles are closely spaced, they are randomly arranged. The position of the particles are not fixed—that is, they are free to move past their neighbors to...

Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition

Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition

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...

Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing

Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing

Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...

Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation

Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation

The physical form of a substance changes on changing its temperature. For example, raising the temperature of a liquid causes the liquid to vaporize (convert into vapor). The process is called vaporization—a surface phenomenon. Vaporization occurs when the thermal motion of the molecules overcome the intermolecular forces, and the molecules (at the surface) escape into the gaseous state. When a liquid vaporizes in a closed container, gas molecules cannot escape. As these gas phase molecules...

Phase Diagram

Phase Diagram

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).

Conservation of Mass in Fixed, Nondeforming Control Volume

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The principle of conservation of mass is fundamental in fluid dynamics and is crucial for analyzing flow within fixed control volumes, such as pipes or ducts. This principle states that the total mass within a control volume remains constant unless altered by the inflow or outflow of mass through the control surfaces. This results in a vital relationship for steady, incompressible flow where the mass entering a system equals the mass leaving it.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 15, 2025

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets

Published on: May 15, 2017

Coherent control of a surface structural phase transition.

Jan Gerrit Horstmann¹, Hannes Böckmann¹, Bareld Wit¹

¹4th Physical Institute, Solids and Nanostructures, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.

|July 10, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Scientists achieved optical control over a solid-state phase transition using precise laser pulses. This method harnesses vibrational coherence to switch between insulating and metallic states, paving the way for new material functionalities.

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Last Updated: Dec 15, 2025

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Area of Science:

Condensed Matter Physics
Surface Science
Physical Chemistry

Background:

Active optical control is crucial for manipulating matter, enabling applications like all-optical magnetic switching and light-induced phase transitions.
Metal-to-insulator transitions in solids are key targets for optical manipulation due to ultrafast changes in electronic and lattice properties.
The role of coherences in the efficiency and thresholds of these transitions remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

To demonstrate coherent control over a metal-insulator structural phase transition.
To investigate the impact of vibrational coherence on switching efficiency in a quasi-one-dimensional solid-state surface system.

Main Methods:

Utilized a femtosecond double-pulse excitation scheme for optical switching.
Employed ultrafast low-energy electron diffraction (ULEED) to monitor structural dynamics.
Harnessed vibrational coherence in specific structural modes to govern the phase transition.

Main Results:

Successfully switched the system from an insulating to a metastable metallic state using the double-pulse excitation.
Observed delay-dependent oscillations in switching efficiency, indicating control via vibrational coherence.
Demonstrated mode-selective coherent control over the structural phase transition.

Conclusions:

Coherent control can effectively govern metal-insulator transitions in solid-state surface systems.
Vibrational coherence plays a critical role in the efficiency of optically induced phase transitions.
This approach opens new possibilities for switching chemical and physical functionalities using metastable, non-equilibrium states.