Defect model of twinning in ferroelectrics

Abstract

We examine electrostatic and elastic contributions to the twinning of a thin ferroelectric film (i.e. a layer embedded in an isotropic medium). The analysis employed herein focuses on the multipole character of the imperfections associated with a twin, treating electrostatic and elastic defects within a unified framework. Our analytical results are complemented by simplified descriptions of the twinned system in terms of idealized defects, leading to an intuitive understanding of defect energetics. For completeness, a number of different twin geometries is considered, and the solutions for these cases are then tabulated and interpreted.