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Related Concept Videos

Phase Transitions02:31

Phase Transitions

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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...
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Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing02:39

Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing

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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...
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Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition02:33

Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition

19.1K
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...
19.1K
Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation02:39

Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation

20.0K
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...
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Phase Diagram01:19

Phase Diagram

6.6K
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).
6.6K
Phase Diagrams02:39

Phase Diagrams

46.9K
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...
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Updated: Nov 25, 2025

Atom Probe Tomography Studies on the CuIn,GaSe2 Grain Boundaries
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Atom Probe Tomography Studies on the CuIn,GaSe2 Grain Boundaries

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Grain-boundary topological phase transitions.

Kongtao Chen1, David J Srolovitz2, Jian Han3

  • 1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|December 15, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Grain boundaries exhibit a Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) phase transition, altering disconnection behavior and impacting material properties like grain growth and superplasticity.

Keywords:
grain boundarygrain growthmaterials sciencephase transitionthermodynamics

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Statistical Mechanics

Background:

  • Disconnections, line defects at grain boundaries (GBs), govern GB properties and polycrystalline material behavior.
  • Understanding GB dynamics is crucial for controlling material properties.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate and analyze the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) phase transition in GBs.
  • To investigate the impact of this transition on disconnection behavior and material properties.

Main Methods:

  • Mean-field theory
  • Renormalization group theory
  • Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations

Main Results:

  • GBs undergo a finite-temperature KT phase transition involving disconnection unbinding.
  • This transition causes abrupt changes in GB migration, sliding, and roughening.
  • The KT transition influences microstructure phenomena like grain growth stagnation and superplasticity.

Conclusions:

  • The KT transition is a fundamental mechanism governing GB behavior.
  • This finding provides insights into controlling material properties through GB engineering.