Kinetics of phase separation in the presence of two disparate energy scales

Abstract

We develop a dynamical model for phase separation in a system with two disparate energy scales. Monte Carlo computer simulations of this model reveal a ‘‘pinning’’ of the structure factor during spinodal decomposition that obeys new scaling relations. We propose a mechanism for the pinning which allows us to predict exact values for the pinning exponents. Finally, we discuss our model in light of recent experiments.