Effect of dislocation walls on the polarization switching of a ferroelectric single crystal

Phase field simulations were conducted to study the influence of dislocation walls on the domain configuration and polarization switching behavior of a ferroelectric single crystal. The simulation results show that the domain configuration and polarization switching behavior depend highly on the dislocation spacing in the dislocation wall. The ferroelectric properties can be greatly improved by reducing the coercive field and meanwhile enhancing the remanent polarization if an appropriate density of dislocations is introduced at high temperature. The phase field simulations also put insights into the mechanism of polarization switching. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.