Kinetic features for nucleation-growth process of magnetic phase transition in La(Fe0.88Si0.12)13 compounds

Abstract

Non-equilibrium transient features of the nucleation-growth phenomenon were investigated to identify the hysteresis characteristics of a first-order phase transition in La(Fe0.88Si0.12)13 compound. The kinetics in the boundary of the nucleated domains in the matrix of the original phase was investigated in the magnetostatically arrested state at which the domain motion was temporarily arrested by the demagnetizing fields. The response to relatively slow magnetic field changes has a time scale characterized by the dissipation of the locally generated latent heat at the phase boundaries. Applying a faster oscillating field to the arrested boundary results in the appearance of unique responses in which the characteristic time scales are close to the atomic nuclear spin-lattice relaxation time for magnetic elements.