The Influence of Electric and Magnetic Fields on Microstructure in Multiferroic Composite Materials - a Phase-Field-Crystal Approach

Topic

The ability to use external electric and magnetic fields to influence the microstructure in polycrystalline materials has potential applications in microstructural engineering. To explore this potential and to understand the complex interactions between electromagnetic fields and solid-state matter transport we consider a phase-field-crystal (PFC) model that captures the basic physics of magneto- and electrocrystalline interactions for multiferroic composite materials.

We start with a simulation plattform which allows to simulate elastoplasticity in polycrystalline materials and will add additional features step by step until we arrive at the binary multiferroic PFC model. Together with e cient and scalable numerical algorithms this will allow 2D and 3D simulations, which will be used to examine the role of external electric and magnetic fields on the evolution of defect structures and grain boundaries, on di↵usion time scales. Large scale simulations in 2D will also allow to obtain statistical data on grain growth under the influence of external fields.

Contact person(s)