Molecular simulation study on the effect of trapped charges on ferroelectric switching in β-phase PVDF crystals

Based on the energy-minimization method in molecular simulation, the effect of trapped charges on ferroelectric switching in β-phase PVDF Crystals was investigated. Our simulation indicated that the barrier height, caused by quasi-hexagonal-symmetry lattice field, was too low to well stabilize the orientations of molecular dipoles. However, the interaction between trapped charges and molecular chains would greatly increase the barrier height to build up a much more steady polarization state.