Universal scaling law for first order phase transformation: LiKSO₄

Abstract

We have measured the kinetics of phase transition in LiKSO₄ (C₆⁶ → C 3v⁴; T_c~201 K) by monitoring the time-dependent change in Raman intensity of selected vibrational lines at various temperatures in the transformed phase C 3v⁴. We find that the observed growth curves for several temperatures display a nearly universal shape when plotted against a suitably scaled time parameter. We interpret our results in terms of a phenomenological model of nucleation and growth.