Dynamical Mechanical Analysis

Crackling noise of a heterogeneous material (mica-schist from Großglockner) measured during slow compression follows similar avalanche statistics (Gutenberg-Richter law) as moving domain walls.

After decades of ignorance, domain walls became objects of high interest. They can carry functional properties at nanoscale dimensions that are not present in the bulk. We study the structural and dynamic properties of domain walls in quite different materials. We also search for possible similarities between the movement of domain walls in crystals with avalanche dynamics and crack propagation in compressed heterogeneous materials.

Selected Publications

  1. Puchberger, S., et al. "The noise of many needles: Jerky domain wall propagation in PbZrO3 and LaAlO3." APL Materials 5.4 (2017): 046102.
  2. Schranz, W., et al. "Giant domain wall response of highly twinned ferroelastic materials." Applied Physics Letters 101.14 (2012): 141913.
  3. Schranz, W. "Superelastic softening in perovskites." Physical Review B 83.9 (2011): 094120.
  4. Soprunyuk, V., et al. "Strain intermittency due to avalanches in ferroelastic and porous materials." Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 29.22 (2017): 224002.
  5. Baró, Jordi, et al. "Statistical similarity between the compression of a porous material and earthquakes." Physical Review Letters 110.8 (2013): 088702.