Segmental front line dynamics of randomly pinned ferroelastic domain walls

Abstract: Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) measurements as a function of temperature, frequency, and dynamic force amplitude are used to perform a detailed study of the domain wall motion in LaAlO3. In previous DMA measurements Harrison et al.[Phys. Rev. B69,144101(2004)] found evidence for dynamic phase transitions of ferroelastic domain walls in LaAlO3. In the present work we focus on the creep-to-relaxation region of domain wall motion using two complementary methods. We determine, in addition to dynamic susceptibility data, waiting time distributions of strain jerks during slowly increasing stress. The present dynamic susceptibility data can be well fitted with a power law, where a crossover from stochastic DW motion to the pinned regime is well described using the scaling function of Fedorenko et al.[Phys. Rev. B70, 224104(2004)].