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Physical Review E

Nonuniversal surface behavior of dynamic phase transitions

Patricia Riego, Andreas Berger

Published Jun 29, 2015• 32 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have studied the dynamic phase transition (DPT) of the kinetic Ising model in systems with surfaces within the mean-field approximation. Varying the surface exchange coupling strength J(s), the amplitude of the externally applied oscillating field h(0), and its period P, we explore the dynamic behavior of the layer-dependent magnetization and the associated DPTs. The surface phase diagram shows several features that resemble those of the equilibrium case, with an extraordinary bulk transition and a surface transition for high J(s) values, independent from the value of h(0). For low J(s), however, h(0) is found to be a crucial parameter that leads to nonuniversal surface behavior at the ordinary bulk transition point. Specifically, we observed here a bulk-supported surface DPT for high field amplitudes h(0) and correspondingly short critical periods P(c), whereas this surface transition simultaneous to the bulk one is suppressed for slow critical dynamics occurring for low values of h(0). The suppression of the DPT for low h(0) not only occurs for the topmost surface layer, but also affects a significant number of subsurface layers. We find that the key physical quantity that explains this nonuniversal behavior is the time correlation between the dynamic surface and bulk magnetizations at the bulk critical point. This time correlation has to pass a threshold value to trigger a bulk-induced DPT in the surface layers. Otherwise, dynamic phase transitions are absent at the surface in stark contrast to the equilibrium behavior of the corresponding thermodynamic Ising model. Also, we have analyzed the penetration depth of the dynamically ordered phase for the surface DPT that occurs for large J(s) values. Here we find that the penetration depth depends strongly on J(s) and behaves identically to the corresponding equilibrium Ising model.

DOI
10.1103/physreve.91.062141

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We have studied the dynamic phase transition (DPT) of the kinetic Ising model in systems with surfaces within the mean-field approximation. Varying the surface exchange coupling strength J(s), the amplitude of the externally applied oscillating field h(0), and its period P, we explore the dynamic behavior of the layer-dependent magnetization and the associated DPTs. The surface phase diagram shows several features that resemble those of the equilibrium case, with an extraordinary bulk transition and a surface transition for high J(s) values, independent from the value of h(0). For low J(s), however, h(0) is found to be a crucial parameter that leads to nonuniversal surface behavior at the ordinary bulk transition point. Specifically, we observed here a bulk-supported surface DPT for high field amplitudes h(0) and correspondingly short critical periods P(c), whereas this surface transition simultaneous to the bulk one is suppressed for slow critical dynamics occurring for low values of h(0). The suppression of the DPT for low h(0) not only occurs for the topmost surface layer, but also affects a significant number of subsurface layers. We find that the key physical quantity that explains this nonuniversal behavior is the time correlation between the dynamic surface and bulk magnetizations at the bulk critical point. This time correlation has to pass a threshold value to trigger a bulk-induced DPT in the surface layers. Otherwise, dynamic phase transitions are absent at the surface in stark contrast to the equilibrium behavior of the corresponding thermodynamic Ising model. Also, we have analyzed the penetration depth of the dynamically ordered phase for the surface DPT that occurs for large J(s) values. Here we find that the penetration depth depends strongly on J(s) and behaves identically to the corresponding equilibrium Ising model.
We investigate the crossover of critical behavior for the dynamic phase transition (DPT) in ferromagnetic thin films using Monte Carlo simulations of the kinetic Ising model, focusing on the scaling behavior of the dynamic order parameter under a time-dependent external magnetic field. Specifically, we study the transition of the critical behavior of such multilayer film systems from two-dimensional (2D) to three-dimensional (3D) as a function of the film thickness and the distance to the critical point, which enables dimensional crossover observations. Our results indicate that the effective critical exponents exhibit a clear transition in their scaling behavior, with thinner films showing 2D-like characteristics and thicker films displaying 3D-like behavior, for both the DPT and the thermodynamic phase transitions (TPT). Quantitatively, the crossover from 2D to 3D behavior occurs at larger film thicknesses for the DPT compared to the TPT, suggesting that DPT and TPT are governed by distinctly different length scales and underlying surface effects. These findings are in agreement with experimental observations in ultrathin Co films, where dynamic and thermodynamic critical exponents were found to differ. Therefore, our study provides an in-depth explanation for critical phenomena in thin-film ferromagnets driven by a time-dependent magnetic field. By comparing the dimensional crossover properties of both TPT and DPT, we present a comprehensive understanding of how thin-film geometry and surface effects influence the scaling laws and critical behavior in nonequilibrium systems.
The surface scaling theory previously presented by the authors is developed further, and derived heuristically from a cluster model. Monte Carlo calculations are carried out to obtain the spatial and temperature dependence of the magnetization in Ising and Heisenberg systems with free surfaces. The exponent ${\ensuremath{\beta}}_{1}$ of the (surface) layer magnetization is shown to agree with the scaling value (${\ensuremath{\beta}}_{1}\ensuremath{\approx}\frac{2}{3}$) previously derived. In the Heisenberg system, the results at low temperature agree with a spin-wave calculation by Mills and Maradudin. Ising models with modified exchange ${J}_{s}=J(1+\ensuremath{\Delta})\ensuremath{\ne}J$ on the surface are considered, both in mean-field theory and by means of high-temperature-series expansions. The critical value ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{c}$ for surface ordering is found from the series to be 0.6, compared to the mean-field value of 0.25. For $\ensuremath{\Delta}>{\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{c}$ there is a temperature region in which the surface behaves like a bulk two-dimensional Ising model near its phase transition. The critical exponents experience a crossover at $\ensuremath{\Delta}={\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{c}$, which is reflected in poorly behaved series, and effective exponents differing from the true ones for $\ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\lesssim}{\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{c}$. In the case of weakened surface exchange (0<Js<J0<{J}_{s}<J0<Js​<J), the layer magnetization is shown to fit a linear temperature dependence over a large temperature range below Tc{T}_{c}Tc​, thus providing a possible explanation for previous experiments. For sufficiently strong negative Js{J}_{s}Js​, mean-field theory predicts that the surface will order antiferromagnetically while the bulk is ferromagnetic.
The two-dimensional kinetic Ising model, when exposed to an oscillating applied magnetic field, has been shown to exhibit a nonequilibrium, second-order dynamic phase transition (DPT), whose order parameter Q is the period-averaged magnetization. It has been established that this DPT falls in the same universality class as the equilibrium phase transition in the two-dimensional Ising model in zero applied field. Here we study the scaling of the dynamic order parameter with respect to a nonzero, period-averaged, magnetic "bias" field, H(b) for a DPT produced by a square-wave applied field. We find evidence that the scaling exponent, delta(d), of H(b) at the critical period of the DPT is equal to the exponent for the critical isotherm, delta(e), in the equilibrium Ising model. This implies that H(b) is a significant component of the field conjugate to Q. A finite-size scaling analysis of the dynamic order parameter above the critical period provides further support for this result. We also demonstrate numerically that, for a range of periods and values of H(b) in the critical region, a fluctuation-dissipation relation (FDR), with an effective temperature T(eff)(T,P,H0) depending on the period, and possibly the temperature and field amplitude, holds for the variables Q and H(b). This FDR justifies the use of the scaled variance of Q as a proxy for the nonequilibrium susceptibility, partial differential Q/partial differential H(b), in the critical region.
Among the many non-equilibrium processes encountered in nature we deal with two different but related aspects. One is the non-equilibrium relaxation process that is at the origin of \'aging phenomena••, and the other one is a non-equilibrium phase transition, called ••dynamic phase transition••. One of the main purposes of our research is to explore more realistic situations than studied previously. Indeed, in the study of aging phenomena certain kinds of disorder effects are considered, and we introduce the ••surface•• as a spatial boundary to the system undergoing the dynamic phase transition. In order to observe these processes as clearly as possible, we study in both cases simple spin systems. Using Monte Carlo simulations we first investigate aging in three-dimensional Ising spin glasses as well as in two-dimensional Ising models with disorder quenched to low temperatures. The time-dependent dynamical correlation length L(t) is determined numerically and the scaling behavior of various two-time quantities as a function of L(t)/L(s) is discussed where t and s are two different times. For disordered Ising models deviations of L(t) from algebraic growth law show up. The generalized scaling forms as a function of L(t)/L(s) reveal a generic simple aging scenario for Ising spin glasses as well as for disordered Ising ferromagnets. We also study the local critical phenomena at a dynamic phase transition by means of numerical simulations of kinetic Ising models with surfaces subjected to a periodic oscillating field. We examine layer-dependent quantities, such as the period-averaged magnetization per layer Q(z) and the layer susceptibility ¥ö(z), and determine local critical exponents through finite size scaling. Both for two and three dimensions, we find that the values of the surface exponents differ from those of the equilibrium critical surface. It is revealed that the surface phase diagram of the non-equilibrium system is not identical to that of the equilibrium system in three dimensions.
We calculate the dynamic phase transition (DPT) temperatures and present the dynamic phase diagrams in the kinetic mixed spin-1/2 and spin-5/2 Ising model under the presence of a time-dependent oscillating external magnetic field. We employ the Glauber transition rates to construct the set of mean-field dynamic equations. The time variation of the average magnetizations and the thermal behavior of the dynamic magnetizations are investigated, extensively. The nature (continuous or discontinuous) of the transitions is characterized by studying the thermal behaviors of the dynamic magnetizations. The DPT points are obtained and the phase diagrams are presented in two different planes. Phase diagrams contain four fundamental phases and three coexistence or mixed phases, which strongly depend on interaction parameters. The phase diagrams are discussed and a comparison is made with the results of the other mixed spin Ising systems.
We studied within the framework of a mean-field approach the nonequilibrium dyn amic phase transition of a kinetic Ising spin system subject to a perturbative f ield and temperature simultaneously by comparison between time-dependent Ginzbur g-Landau and Glauber dynamics models. The dynamic phase transition (DPT) boundar ies, separating a symmetry-breaking dynamic ordered phase from its symmetric dyn amic disordered counterpart, were identified through a systematic simulation of the above two models. The dependence of the dynamic order parameter Q and the fo urth order cumulant ratio U upon the temperature t(r0), the frequency ω and amplitude h0 of driving field were also investigated in detai l. A discussion was presented concerning the current controversies on whether bo th a discontinuous dynamic phase transition occurs possibly below a specific low temperature and a tri-critical point exists on the DPT boundary in a kinetic Is ing spin system.