INTERFACIAL DYNAMICS AT A 1ST-ORDER PHASE-TRANSITION INVOLVING STRAIN - DYNAMIC TWIN FORMATION

Dynamical growth aspects of symmetry-breaking, first-order phase transitions for which the primary order parameter is a second-rank tensor, e.g., strain describing diffusionless structural phase transitions, are considered. It is found that a single domain does not always grow inside the parent phase matrix, but instead a perpetually twinning interface propagates through the system, a result of the system attempting to minimize its kinetic energy.