Development of a bond-valence based interatomic potential for BiFeO3 for accurate molecular dynamics simulations

We present an atomistic potential for BiFeO3 based on the principles of bond-valence (BV) and bond-valence vector (BVV) conservation. The validity of this model potential is tested for both canonical ensemble (NVT) and isobaric–isothermal ensemble (NPT) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The model reproduces the ferroelectric-to-paraelectric phase transition in both NVT and NPT MD simulations and the temperature dependence of the local structure in BiFeO3. The calculated domain wall energies for 71°, 109°and 180° walls agree well with density functional theory results. The success of our simple model potential for BiFeO3 indicates that BV and BVV conservation provides a firm basis for the development of accurate atomistic potentials for complex oxides.