Phase-field method is one of the most powerful tools for modeling the formation and evolution of microstructures in a wide variety of kinetic processes in materials.
The application of phase-field modelling to understand and predict the domain pattern formation and dynamics in ferroic (e.g., ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, and multiferroic) materials has proven to be particularly successful. This presentation will start with a general introduction to the phase-field modeling of ferroic materials, followed by discussion on how phase-field modeling has been used to predict new types of magnetoelectric effects (voltage control of chiral magnetic textures such as domain-walls and skyrmions) in multiferroic heterostructures comprised of juxtaposed ferromagnetic and ferroelectric materials. The last part of the presentation will be focused on the development of dynamical phase-field model for understanding and predicting the response of ferroic domains to
ultrafast external stimuli, including picosecond acoustic pulse, femtosecond laser pulse, and terahertz electric-field pulse.