Dynamical solid–liquid transition through oscillatory shear

Abstract

Starting from an ideal crystalline state, we numerically study a nonequilibrium dynamical order–disorder transition promoted by the application of a periodic shearing protocol at low temperatures in model systems in three dimensions. We observe a discontinuous dynamical transition from an ordered to a disordered steady state. Through the analysis of large-scale simulations, we show that the amorphization mechanism around the discontinuous transition is reminiscent of spinodal decomposition.