Understanding Ferroelectric Phase Transitions and Domain Switching by Phase-field Modeling

Ferroelectric materials, characterized by their high dielectric constants, piezoelectricity, and pyroelectricity, find numerous applications in electronic products such as computer memory, highly sensitive sensors, and sonar devices. Additionally, they hold potential applications in fields like solid-state refrigeration, with their performance often closely linked to their microstructural evolution, including phase transitions and domain switching. Phase-field methods serve as highly advantageous tools for exploring, revealing, and predicting mesoscale ferroelectric domain evolution. Within ferroelectric phase-field models, diverse types of domain structures of ferroelectric materials, such as bulk single crystals and thin films, can be simulated by setting different mechanical and electrical boundary conditions. Various types of ferroelectric phase transitions can also be studied by setting conditions in the models such as temperature variations and the application of external electric fields. Furthermore, by applying external electrical or mechanical stimuli in the phase-field models, behaviors such as ferroelectric domain switching can be observed. Here we first outline the fundamental framework of phase-field models, followed by a comprehensive overview of various phase transitions in ferroelectric materials, including ferroelectric-to-paraelectric and antiferroelectric-to-ferroelectric transitions. Additionally, the review summarizes how phase-field models facilitate the induction of ferroelectric domain switching through various experimental stimuli, including electric fields and mechanical fields. This review concludes by summarizing and prospecting potential new applications of the phase-field method in the study of ferroelectric phase transitions and domain switching.