A two-gradient approach for phase transitions in thin films

TL;DR

This paper analyzes phase transitions in thin elastic films using Gamma-convergence, deriving models that depend on the relative rates of phase transition and film thickness, revealing complex interfacial behaviors.

Contribution

It introduces a two-gradient approach to derive sharp interface models for phase transitions in thin films, accounting for different scaling regimes and interfacial energies.

Findings

Interfacial energy depends on the asymptotic ratio of transition length scale to film thickness.

Different regimes show either scale separation or trivial rigidity effects.

Explicit optimal profile problems determine the interfacial energies in each case.

Abstract

Motivated by solid-solid phase transitions in elastic thin films, we perform a Gamma-convergence analysis for a singularly perturbed energy describing second order phase transitions in a domain of vanishing thickness. Under a two-wells assumption, we derive a sharp interface model with an interfacial energy depending on the asymptotic ratio between the characteristic length scale of the phase transition and the thickness of the film. In each case, the interfacial energy is determined by an explicit optimal profile problem. This asymptotic problem entails a nontrivial dependance on the thickness direction when the phase transition is created at the same rate as the thin film, while it shows a separation of scales if the thin film is created at a faster rate than the phase transition. The last regime, when the phase transition is created at a faster rate than the thin film, is more involved. Depending on growth conditions of the potential and the compatibility of the two phases, we either obtain a sharp interface model with scale separation, or a trivial situation driven by rigidity effects.