Effect of temperature on domain wall-pore interactions in lead zirconate titanate: A phase-field study

Abstract

We study the influence of temperature on the interaction of nano-pores with ferroelectric domain walls in bulk single-crystalline lead zirconate titanate as a function of pore size and concentration. Using a density functional theory-informed finite-temperature phase-field model, we determine the electric field required to unpin 180°-domain walls from a periodic array of pores, thus gaining insight into the effect of temperature on domain wall kinetics in ferroelectrics with good qualitative agreement between simulated results and experimental measurements.