LANDAU-GINZBURG MODEL OF INTERPHASE BOUNDARIES IN IMPROPER FERROELASTIC PEROVSKITES OF D(18)4H SYMMETRY

The Landau model of Slonczewski and Thomas (1970) for the improper ferroelastic Oh1-D4h18 phase transition in perovskite-structure compounds has been extended by including spatial gradient terms of the three-component primary order parameter (OP) and applied to calculate the OP profile and the strain distribution for antiphase and for twin boundaries in the tetragonal phase. In order to obtain quasi-one-dimensional kink-type solitary-wave solutions for which the OP and the strain depend only on the coordinate normal to the interface plane, lateral surface forces are required which allow for the shape change associated with ferroelastic interfaces, but which prevent expansion or contraction within the boundary plane. Numerical application to SrTiO3, including calculation of the thickness and energy of both types of interphase boundaries versus temperature, is also presented. © 1990 The American Physical Society.