Microscopic simulation of the polarization switching at ferroelectric first-order phase transitions

Abstract Simulations of the kinetics of polarization switching at first-order ferroelectric phase transitions are carried out within the framework of Ishibashi dipole lattice model. We consider the influence of the dipole–dipole interaction between polar units on the polarization switching taking into account the existence of metastable states. We also examine the size effect on the switching kinetics. We calculate hysteresis loops and switching rates in the systems in which the continuum approximation is not valid. We show that in the case of hundreds of polar units our equations give the known analytical expressions for the switching rate.