  First-order phase transition in a highly correlated electron system can
manifest as a dynamic phenomenon. The presence of multiple domains of the
coexisting phases average out the dynamical effects making it nearly impossible
to predict the exact nature of phase transition dynamics. Here we report the
metal-insulator transition in samples of sub-micrometer size NdNiO3 where the
effect of averaging is minimized by restricting the number of domains under
study. We observe the presence of supercooled metallic phases with supercooling
of 40 K or more. The transformation from supercooled metallic to insulating
state is a stochastic process that happens at different temperature and time in
different experimental runs. The experimental results are understood without
incorporating material specific properties suggesting their universal nature.
The size of the sample needed to observe individual switching of supercooled
domains, the degree of supercooling, and the time-temperature window of
switching is expected to depend on the parameters such as quenched disorder,
strain, magnetic field etc.
