Sharp-interface kinetics of ferroelectric domain-wall junctions

Determine the sharp-interface thermodynamic driving force and associated kinetic law for domain-wall junctions in ferroelectric materials, whose singular-point kinetics may differ from those of simple two-phase interfaces.

Background

The general kinetic model assigns kinetic relations to pairwise interfaces between ferroelectric domain variants and demonstrates that distinct kinetics can be prescribed for 90-degree and 180-degree domain walls. However, a domain-wall junction is a singular point where multiple interfaces meet, and its evolution may be governed by a driving force and kinetic relation distinct from those of an isolated two-phase interface. The paper does not formulate either quantity for ferroelectric junctions, leaving the sharp-interface description of their motion unresolved.

References

More generally, a domain wall junction is a singular point, which is expected to have its own driving force and kinetic relation, distinct from those of a simple two-phase interface \citep{simha1998kinetics}. For ferroelectrics, obtaining both the sharp-interface driving force and the associated kinetic law for such junctions remains an open challenge that we do not address here.

— An electromechanically coupled multiphase-field model with generalized kinetic relations for ferroelectrics  (2609.39671 - Cheng et al., 30 Sep 2026) in Section 4.2.1, “Suppressed kinetics of 90 or 180 degree domain walls”