Interfaces and ripple states in ferroelastic crystals—A simple model

A simple atomistic model with two harmonic potentials between layers of atoms describes surface relaxations equivalent to those found as kink solitary waves in ferroelastic crystals. The parameters of the model are expressed in terms of the entropy term in a Landau potential and the Ginzburg gradient energy. We discuss the possibility that metastable ripple states exist in which a modulation is superimposed to an underlying uniform order parameter. Such ripple states can occur at temperatures close to the transition point between a ferroelastic phase and an incommensurate phase. In the ripple state, domain walls consist of kinks with modulations on either side of the kink.