Formation and rapid evolution of domain structure at phase transitions in slightly inhomogeneous ferroelectrics
Abstract
We present the first analytical study of stability loss and evolution of domain structure in inhomogeneous ferroelectric samples for exactly solvable model. The model assumes a short-circuited capacitor with two regions with slightly different critical temperatures Tc1 > Tc2, where Tc1-Tc2 << Tc1, Tc2. Even a tiny inhomogeneity like 10-5 K may result in splitting the system into domains below the phase transition temperature. At T < Tc2 the domain width is proportional to (Tc1 - T)/(Tc1 - Tc2) and quickly increases with lowering temperature. The minute inhomogeneities in Tc may result from structural (growth) inhomogeneities which are always present in real samples and a similar role can be played by inevitable temperature gradients.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0112001,
title = {Formation and rapid evolution of domain structure at phase transitions in slightly inhomogeneous ferroelectrics},
author = {A. M. Bratkovsky and A. P. Levanyuk},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0112001},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
5 pages, 2 figures, discussion expanded and references added to experiments on graded ferroelectrics and ferroelectric superlattices