Eight-potential-well order-disorder ferroelectric model and effects of random fields

An eight-potential-well order-disorder ferroelectric model was presented and the phase transition was studied under the mean-field approximation. It was shown that the two-body interactions are able to account for the first-order and the second order phase transitions. With increasing the random fields in the system, a first-order phase transition is transformed into a second-order phase transition, and furthermore, a second-order phase transition is inhibited. However, proper random fields can promote the spontaneous appearance of a first-order phase transition by increasing the overcooled temperature. The connections of the model with relaxors were discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Applied Physics Letter