Size effects on the second order ferroelectric phase transition in a thin film with non-symmetric boundary conditions

Abstract

The analytical solution is considered for the phenomenological theory of the second order ferroelectric or ferroelastic phase transition in a thin film with arbitrary boundary conditions. The general phase-plane portrait for the relevant Euler-Lagrange equation was analyzed. The order parameter distribution in the film was found for some particular sets of extrapolation lengths. The case of extrapolation lengths with opposite signs was also considered numerically. It was shown that the size effect on the order parameter and transition temperature is remarkably weakened when the extrapolation lengths have similar absolute values and opposite signs.