Ferroelectric Domain Walls and their Intersections in Phase-Field Simulations

This chapter deals with phenomenological theoretical description of ferroelectric domain walls in perovskite ferroelectrics in the framework of Ginzburg-Landau-Devonshire theory. Its first part focuses mostly on the Bloch-like ferroelectric walls in comparison with the more standard Ising-like domain wall profiles as well as hypothetical Neel-like domain walls. Its second part is devoted to line defects that occur at the intersection of ferroelectric domain walls. The overview of the various concepts and recent studies is illustrated by polarization profiles obtained using phase-field simulations for the model ferroelectric perovskite crystal BaTiO\(_3\).