Figure 6. Evolution of the domain morphology and free energies during transformations of vortex states.
Snapshots of the domain evolution during (a) the transformation from 2-vortices state to 4-vortices state under compressive loading τ = −1.7 GPa and (b) the transformation from 2-vortices state to 1-vortex state under tensile loading τ = 1.3 GPa at T = 300 K. (c) and (d) depict the corresponding evolutions of the free energy and its components during the two transformations, respectively.