Hi Andrei,

To be a ferroelectric, the material must have at least two different states
of polarization, so first you would need to identify those different stable
structural configurations. In typical ferroelectric perovskites (like
BaTiO3 or PbTiO3) the different polarization states are related by symmetry
and can be trivially identified, but I guess that's not your case. Once you
find the different stable configurations, a switching path would be a
continuous structural transformation that brings the crystal from one state
to the other, ideally through the lowest energy barrier (note that this is
not how real ferroelectrics actually switch, this is how they would switch
if they did it as a whole, infinitely symmetric, single crystal).
To get the change in P during switching though, you don't need to use the
ideal switching path, just a reasonable one. One thing that you do have to
take care of is the possible jump between polarization branches along the
path.

Depending on your familiarity with modern theory of polarization and
ferroelectrics, the paper I mentioned in my first email is acctually a good
starting point (at the end, for instance, it discusses the problem of the
different polarization branches and the switching path). A more detailed
study you might find useful is PRB 84, 115107 (2011).

Best regards,

Pablo

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