A rationale for non-linear responses to strong electric fields in molecular dynamics simulations

Many approaches for calculation of the field-dependent electric properties of water solutions rely on the Onsager and Kirkwood theories of polar dielectrics. Such basic theories implicitly consider the electric field intensity to fulfill the so-called 'weak field conditions', i.e. to produce a linear response in the system. In this work we made use of molecular dynamics simulations to investigate possible non-linear effects induced by high intensity electric fields, specifically continuous wave bursts with nanosecond duration, comparing them with the ones predicted by the theory. We found that field intensities above 0.15 V nm(-1) produce remarkable nonlinear responses in the whole 100 MHz-100 GHz frequency window considered, with the onset of higher order polarization signals, which are the clear fingerprint of harmonic distorsions. That non-linear response turned out to depend on the considered frequency. We finally show that MD outcomes are consistent with a modelization based on an extended formulation of the Langevin function including a frequency-dependent parameter.