Linking far-from-equilibrium defect structures in ceramics to electromagnetic driving forces

Abstract

Electromagnetic (EM) field exposure during materials synthesis offers the opportunity to engineer novel atomic structures and modify reaction kinetics beyond the capabilities of conventional routes. We demonstrate the first experimental evidence that even low energy EM fields can influence atomic structural arrangements, resulting in rapid low-temperature crystallization and phase transitions in ceramic oxides. Synchrotron X-ray characterization, coupled with first-principles calculations, show that phase stability is mediated by oxygen vacancy-induced structural distortions. These distortions are dependent on the local electric field intensity, validating a longstanding hypothesis that high local field strengths (exceeding 10⁶ V m⁻¹) act as a driving force in field-driven materials synthesis. This information linking field strength with atomic structure lays the foundation to deploy EM fields to explore regions of phase space and material properties not readily accessible in nature.