Magnetic APFC modeling and the influence of magneto-structural interactions on grain shrinkage

TL;DR

This paper develops a phase-field-crystal model incorporating magneto-structural interactions, demonstrating how magnetization influences grain shrinkage and microstructure evolution in ferromagnetic materials.

Contribution

It introduces a novel APFC model that captures magneto-structural effects and demonstrates its application to grain shrinkage simulations.

Findings

Magnetization affects grain shrinkage behavior.

The model captures magnetic anisotropy in BCC crystals.

Simulations show potential for microstructure manipulation in ferromagnets.

Abstract

We derive the amplitude expansion for a phase-field-crystal (APFC) model that captures the basic physics of magneto-structural interactions. The symmetry breaking due to magnetization is demonstrated, and the characterization of the magnetic anisotropy for a BCC crystal is provided. This model enables a convenient coarse-grained description of crystalline structures, in particular when considering the features of the APFC model combined with numerical methods featuring inhomogeneous spatial resolution. This is shown by addressing the shrinkage of a spherical grain within a matrix, chosen as a prototypical system to demonstrate the influence of different magnetizations. These simulations serve as a proof of concept for the modeling of manipulation of dislocation networks and microstructures in ferromagnetic materials within the APFC model.