Conceptual design of nanostructures for efficient photoinduced phase transitions

By means of Monte Carlo simulations on a kinetic model, we demonstrate that the efficiency of a photoinduced phase change can in general be enhanced drastically by using a superstructure of an appropriate combination of two components. This is due to the accelerated nucleation of converted domains in the structural blocks relatively close to local instability. The present mechanism provides a general guideline on the design of photocontrollable materials with potential applications for memory and storage devices.