Laser‐Induced Artificial Defects (LIADs): Towards the Control of the Spatiotemporal Dynamics in Spin Transition Materials

Micrometer-sized defects, induced by laser ablation, radically change the spatiotemporal dynamics of a first-order structural phase transition, in this case of a spin crossover material. This type of “domain engineering” is thus based on artificial defects, such as that in the image, which can serve either as nucleation sites or as pinning sites. The subsequent growth of the nucleated domains can also be guided to some extent. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.