Strain Induced Incommensurate Structures in Vicinity of the Reconstructive Phase Transitions

Abstract

General conditions controlling formation of incommensurate phases (IPs) in crystals undergoing reconstructive phase transitions (RPTs) are analyzed in the framework of a model free phenomenological approach. A universal trend to stabilizing such intermediate phases in vicinity of RPTs stems from the fact that certain high-order improper Lifshitz invariants reduce at RPTs to ones bi-linearly coupling critical displacement gradients and strains. Developed approach introduces a universal mechanism for formation both premartensite IPs and complex structures with giant unit cells found in some elemental crystals at high pressure.