Magnetically enhanced thin film coarsening by a magnetic XPFC model allowing to decouple magnetic anisotropy and magnetostriction

TL;DR

This paper introduces a magnetic XPFC model to simulate how strong magnetic fields influence grain growth in thin films, enabling control over microstructural properties and matching experimental observations.

Contribution

The study develops a novel magnetic XPFC model that decouples magnetic anisotropy and magnetostriction effects in microstructure evolution simulations.

Findings

Magnetic fields can control grain boundary mobility.

The model reproduces experimental microstructural geometries.

Magneto-structural effects are incorporated into reciprocal space correlation functions.

Abstract

External magnetic fields provide a macroscopic control mechanism to influence the microstructure of polycrystalline materials. We model the influence of strong magnetic fields on grain growth in thin films with a magnetic extended phase field crystal (XPFC) model. The magneto-structural effects are incorporated into the correlation function in reciprocal space. With this approach magnetic anisotropy, magnetostriction and mobility of grain boundary can be controlled and a variety of geometrical and topological properties consistent with experimental results can be determined.