title: Dynamics of electrically driven martensitic phase transitions in Fe nanoislands.
abstract: Magnetoelectric coupling has attracted interest due to its potential to write magnetic information with electric fields. In the model system of Fe islands on Cu(111), electric fields can induce martensitic phase transitions between ferromagnetic body-centered cubic and antiferromagnetic face-centered cubic phases. Here, we present a detailed study of the dynamics and energetics of the phase transition in the electric field of the junction of a scanning tunneling microscope. Statistical measurements allow us to reveal the influence of both the electric field and the crystallographic strain on the energy landscape of the two competing phases.
authors.affiliation: Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany and Institut für Nanotechnologie, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gerhard
authors.forename: Rien J H
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wesselink
authors.forename: Sergej
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ostanin
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.forename: Wulf
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wulfhekel