On the thickness of domain walls in ferroelectrics and ferroelastics

Ferroelastic and ferroelectric domain walls are commonly described by wall profiles of the tanh(x/w)-type. We argue that this profile is still a good approximation if higher-order gradient energies are considered. Such energies are relevant for phase transitions close to structural incommensurations and also for phase transitions with dominant elastic interactions. Their effect on the wall profile is to influence the effective wall thickness. Positive gradient energies tend to widen domain walls beyond the values predicted in classic Landau-Ginzburg theory.