2016/05/31 by Ananya Renuka Balakrishna, John E. Huber, Ingo von Münch +1 · 20 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Acoustic Wave Resonator Technologies #Boundary value problem #Condensed matter physics #Domain (mathematical analysis) #Elastic energy #Electric field #Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials #Field (mathematics) #Finite element method #Geometry #Materials science #Mathematical analysis #Mathematics #Nanoscopic scale #Nanotechnology #Periodic boundary conditions #Phase (matter) #Phase field models #Physics #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Scaling #Solidification and crystal growth phenomena #Strain energy #Tetragonal crystal system #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.93.174120
published in Physical review. B./Physical review. B 93(17) (American Physical Society) · 13 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables
openalex publication_date 2016/05/31 · openalex created_date 2017/01/06 · arxiv created 2018/03/17 · arxiv updated 2018/03/20 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Ferroelectrics form domain patterns that minimize their energy subject to imposed boundary conditions. In a linear, constrained theory, that neglects domain-wall energy, periodic domain patterns in the form of multirank laminates can be identified as minimum-energy states. However, when these laminates (formed in a macroscopic crystal) comprise domains that are a few nanometers in size, the domain-wall energy becomes significant, and the behavior of laminate patterns at this scale is not known. Here, a phase-field model, which accounts for gradient energy and strain energy contributions, is employed to explore the stability and evolution of the nanoscale multirank laminates. The stress, electric field, and domain-wall energies in the laminates are computed. The effect of scaling is also discussed. In the absence of external loading, stripe domain patterns are found to be lower-energy states than the more complex, multirank laminates, which mostly collapse into simpler patterns. However, complex laminates can be stabilized by imposing external loads such as electric field, average strain, and polarization. The study provides insight into the domain patterns that may form on a macroscopic single crystal but comprising nanoscale periodic patterns, and on the effect of external loads on these patterns.