The poling process in $\beta$-phase poly(vinylidene fluoride) is studied in two models in which the reorientation of the electric polarization of a crystallite occurs through the propagation of a solitary wave, or kink, of rotation along the chain. While a model considered by Aslaksen, in which the rotation is through 180°, does not provide agreement with experiment, a model by Kepler and Anderson, in which the rotation is through 60°, yields results not inconsistent with observed poling times.

• Received 8 October 1979

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.21.3700