A new 3-dimensional simulation procedure was developed for domain wall (grain boundary, antiphase boundary, magnetic, etc.) migration in the presence of diffusing impurities. The simulation was based upon a kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm and an extended Ising model, incorporating both conserved and non-conserved dynamics. The simulations showed a dependence of the domain wall velocity upon driving force which was in qualitative agreement with experiment. That is, the presence of a low-mobility regime at small driving forces and an abrupt transition to a high-mobility regime at larger forces, under some conditions, and a continuous non-linear dependence of the velocity upon driving force in others. The main qualitative difference between 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional simulation results was how the domain-wall roughness depended upon driving force. The velocity versus driving-force relationship was not consistent with classic continuum models but could be described, in the high-velocity regime, by a theory that was based upon a discrete version of these models.

Domain Wall Migration in 3D in the Presence of Diffusing Impurities. M.I.Mendelev, D.J.Srolovitz: Interface Science, 2002, 10[1], 91-8