Domain structure in nanoscale ferroelastic plate

Abstract

In this work, in the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau phenomenological theory for phase transitions it was found that the structure of the main state of a nanoscale ferroelastic plate below the phase transition temperature can be heterogeneous and is “domain-like.” By the numerical solution of a nonlinear system of differential equations for the order parameter in the framework of elasticity theory, it is shown that in the low-temperature phase of a mechanically fixed ferroelastic plate with a size $30\times 30\times dnm$ starting from a certain thickness ($d\ge 9nm$), an inhomogeneous domain-like state is realized. “Domains” do not have clear boundaries, but have a various signs of the order parameter, and their number depends on the proximity of the temperature to the phase transition temperature and the plate thickness.

Keywords:

• Ferroelastic
• Nanocomposite
• Phase transitions
• Domain structure
• Ginzburg-Landau theory