Spatiotemporal Imaging of Thermally Driven Metal-Insulator Phase Domain Propagation in VO2
Abstract
Achieving a detailed picture of the nature and dynamics of phase boundaries remains a major challenge, particularly solid-solid transitions central to phase-change materials. Here, we use stroboscopic optical scattering microscopy and finite-element simulations to study the nonlinear thermally driven motion of the mesoscale insulator-metal phase boundary in VO2 thin films. We visualize the lateral spatiotemporal evolution of a diffraction-limited photoinduced metallic phase domain, resolving its outward propagation, contraction, and ultimate disappearance. The phase boundary dynamics are governed by heat flow, which can be controlled by excitation fluence, film thickness, and substrate thermal conductivity. Parameter-free agreement between the data and nonlinear thermal transport simulations identify the phase boundary transport as locally diffusive under this regime. We quantify how the latent heat acts as a thermal inertia, suppressing transport and prolonging the phase coexistence. Paradoxically, despite being driven by the underlying thermal gradient locally described by Fourier's law, the mesoscale phase front propagates faster than expected from thermal diffusion. This phenomenon arises from the distinction between temperature-field evolution and phase-boundary isotherm motion. These results establish a link between heat dissipation and mesoscale phase-front motion, providing a framework for controlling phase-transition kinetics relevant to photonics applications of VO2. We anticipate that this approach generalizes to a broad class of first- and second-order transitions.
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BibTeX
@misc{delbono2026spatiotemporal,
title = {{Spatiotemporal Imaging of Thermally Driven Metal-Insulator Phase Domain Propagation in VO2}},
author = {Ilaria Delbono and Raouf Amara and Matias Feldman and Hankun Yang and Cédric Leau and Carlo Scian and Erwan Dandeu and Sébastien Royer and Debora Pierucci and Emmanuel Lhuillier and Franck Vidal and Tiziana Cesca and Hilton B. de Aguiar and Jose Ordonez-Miranda and Danièle Fournier and Raj Pandya and Boris Kalinic and Giovanni Mattei and James K. Utterback},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.26367},
eprint = {2610.26367},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.26367},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Spatiotemporal Imaging of Thermally Driven Metal-Insulator Phase Domain Propagation in VO2
AU - Ilaria Delbono
AU - Raouf Amara
AU - Matias Feldman
AU - Hankun Yang
AU - Cédric Leau
AU - Carlo Scian
AU - Erwan Dandeu
AU - Sébastien Royer
AU - Debora Pierucci
AU - Emmanuel Lhuillier
AU - Franck Vidal
AU - Tiziana Cesca
AU - Hilton B. de Aguiar
AU - Jose Ordonez-Miranda
AU - Danièle Fournier
AU - Raj Pandya
AU - Boris Kalinic
AU - Giovanni Mattei
AU - James K. Utterback
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.26367
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.26367
AB - Achieving a detailed picture of the nature and dynamics of phase boundaries remains a major challenge, particularly solid-solid transitions central to phase-change materials. Here, we use stroboscopic optical scattering microscopy and finite-element simulations to study the nonlinear thermally driven motion of the mesoscale insulator-metal phase boundary in VO2 thin films. We visualize the lateral spatiotemporal evolution of a diffraction-limited photoinduced metallic phase domain, resolving its outward propagation, contraction, and ultimate disappearance. The phase boundary dynamics are governed by heat flow, which can be controlled by excitation fluence, film thickness, and substrate thermal conductivity. Parameter-free agreement between the data and nonlinear thermal transport simulations identify the phase boundary transport as locally diffusive under this regime. We quantify how the latent heat acts as a thermal inertia, suppressing transport and prolonging the phase coexistence. Paradoxically, despite being driven by the underlying thermal gradient locally described by Fourier's law, the mesoscale phase front propagates faster than expected from thermal diffusion. This phenomenon arises from the distinction between temperature-field evolution and phase-boundary isotherm motion. These results establish a link between heat dissipation and mesoscale phase-front motion, providing a framework for controlling phase-transition kinetics relevant to photonics applications of VO2. We anticipate that this approach generalizes to a broad class of first- and second-order transitions.
ER -