Surface structure of ferroelastic domain walls: a continuum elasticity approach

We present a model based on continuum elasticity and energy minimization fo r the study of ferroelastic domain walls close to a surface. We focus on wa lls orthogonal to the surface, and predict a double-peak structure in the s urface values of the squared elastic strain, which is directly related to t he chemical reactivity. We also compute the height profile, which can be me asured, in principle, e.g. with atomic force microscopy, and the strain dis tribution in the bulk. Our results are in good agreement with previous atom istic simulations, which had required a much bigger computational effort. T he effect of the cubic anisotropy (C-12 + 2C(44))/C-11 on the surface struc ture of the intersection between the twin wall and the crystal surface is a lso explored.