2,378 research outputs found
Soft Mode Dynamics Above and Below the Burns Temperature in the Relaxor Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O_3
We report neutron inelastic scattering measurements of the lowest-energy
transverse optic (TO) phonon branch in the relaxor Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O_3 from 400
to 1100 K. Far above the Burns temperature T_d ~ 620 K we observe well-defined
propagating TO modes at all wave vectors q, and a zone center TO mode that
softens in a manner consistent with that of a ferroelectric soft mode. Below
T_d the zone center TO mode is overdamped. This damping extends up to, but not
above, the waterfall wave vector q_wf, which is a measure of the average size
of the PNR.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; modified discussion of Fig. 3, shortened
captions, added reference, corrected typos, accepted by Phys. Rev. Let
Soft Mode Anomalies in the Perovskite Relaxor Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3
Neutron inelastic scattering measurements of the polar TO phonon mode in the
cubic relaxor Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3, at room temperature, reveal anomalous behavior
similar to that recently observed in the Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)_{0.92}Ti_{0.08}O3
system in which the optic branch appears to drop precipitously into the
acoustic branch at a finite value of the momentum transfer q = 0.20
1/Angstroms, measured from the zone center. By contrast, a recent neutron study
showed that PMN exhibits a normal TO phonon dispersion at 800 K. We speculate
this behavior is common to all relaxor materials and is the result of the
presence of nanometer-scale polarized domains in the crystal that form below a
temperature Td, which effectively prevent the propagation of long wavelength (q
= 0) phonons.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures To appear as an AIP Conference Proceedings Volume
for the Aspen 2000 Winter Conference on the Fundamental Physics of
Ferroelectric
Ferroelectric Dynamics in the Perovskite Relaxor PMN
We review results obtained from recent neutron scattering studies of the
lead-oxide class of perovskite relaxors PMN and PZN. A ferroelectric soft mode
has been identified in PMN at 1100 K that becomes overdamped near 620 K. This
is the same temperature at which polar nanoregions (PNR) begin to form, denoted
by Td, and suggests that a direct connection exists between the soft mode and
the PNR. The appearance of diffuse scattering intensity at Td reported by
Naberezhnov et al. lends further support to this picture. At lower temperature
the soft mode in PMN reappears close to Tc = 213 K (defined only for E > Ec).
These results are provocative because the dynamics below Tc are characteristic
of an ordered ferroelectric state, yet they occur in a system that remains
cubic on average at all temperatures. We discuss a coupled-mode model that
successfully describes these data as well as those from earlier lattice
dynamical studies of other perovskites such as BaTiO3.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, Conference - Fundamental Physics of
Ferroelectrics 200
Neutron Diffuse Scattering from Polar Nanoregions in the Relaxor Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3
We have studied the neutron diffuse scattering in the relaxor PMN. The
diffuse scattering appears around the Burns temperature (~620K), indicating its
origin from the polar nanoregions (PNR). While the relative diffuse intensities
are consistent with previous reports, they are entirely different from those of
the lowest-energy TO phonon. Because of that, it has been considered that this
TO mode could not be the ferroelectric soft mode. Recently, a neutron
scattering study has unambiguously shown that the TO mode does soften on
cooling. If the diffuse scattering in PMN originates from the soft mode
condensation, then the atomic displacements must satisfy the center of mass
condition. But, the atomic displacements determined from diffuse scattering
intensities do not fulfill this condition. To resolve this contradiction, we
propose a simple model in which the total atomic displacement consists of two
components: is created by the soft mode condensation, satisfying
the center of mass condition, and, represents a uniform
displacement of the PNR along their polar direction relative to the surrounding
(unpolarized) cubic matrix. Within this framework, we can successfully describe
the neutron diffuse scattering intensities observed in PMN.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures (Revised: 11-16-2001
Dynamical effects of the nanometer-sized polarized domains in Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3
Recent neutron scattering measurements performed on the relaxor ferroelectric
Pb[(Zn1/3Nb2/3)0.92Ti0.08]O3 (PZN-8%PT) in its cubic phase at 500 K, have
revealed an anomalous ridge of inelastic scattering centered ~0.2 A-1 from the
zone center (Gehring et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5216 (2000)). This ridge of
scattering resembles a waterfall when plotted as a phonon dispersion diagram,
and extends vertically from the transverse acoustic (TA) branch near 4 meV to
the transverse optic (TO) branch near 9 meV. No zone center optic mode was
found. We report new results from an extensive neutron scattering study of pure
PZN that exhibits the same waterfall feature. We are able to model the dynamics
of the waterfall using a simple coupled-mode model that assumes a strongly
q-dependent optic mode linewidth Gamma1(q) that increases sharply near 0.2 A-1
as one approaches the zone center. This model was motivated by the results of
Burns and Dacol in 1983, who observed the formation of a randomly-oriented
local polarization in PZN at temperatures far above its ferroelectric phase
transition temperature. The dramatic increase in Gamma1 is believed to occur
when the wavelength of the optic mode becomes comparable to the size of the
small polarized micro-regions (PMR) associated with this randomly-oriented
local polarization, with the consequence that longer wavelength optic modes
cannot propagate and become overdamped. Below Tc=410 K, the intensity of the
waterfall diminishes. At lowest temperatures ~30 K the waterfall is absent, and
we observe the recovery of a zone center transverse optic mode near 10.5 meV.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures (one color). Submitted to Physical Review
Static magnetic correlations near the insulating-superconducting phase boundary in LaSrCuO
An elastic neutron scattering study has been performed on several single
crystals of LaSrCuO for {\it x} near the lower critical
concentration {\it x} for superconductivity. % In the insulating
spin-glass phase ({\it x} = 0.04 and 0.053), the previously reported
one-dimensional spin modulation along the orthorhombic {\it b}-axis is
confirmed. % Just inside the superconducting phase ({\it x} = 0.06), however,
two pairs of incommensurate magnetic peaks are additionally observed
corresponding to the spin modulation parallel to the tetragonal axes. % These
two types of spin modulations with similar incommensurabilities coexist near
the boundary. % The peak-width along spin-modulation direction
exhibits an anomalous maximum in the superconducting phase near {\it x},
where the incommensurability monotonically increases upon doping
across the phase boundary. % These results are discussed in connection with the
doping-induced superconducting phase transition.Comment: 9pages, 9figure
Coexistence and competition of local- and long-range polar orders in a ferroelectric relaxor
We have performed a series of neutron diffuse scattering measurements on a
single crystal of the solid solution Pb(ZnNb)O (PZN) doped
with 8% PbTiO (PT), a relaxor compound with a Curie temperature T K, in an effort to study the change in local polar orders from the polar
nanoregions (PNR) when the material enters the ferroelectric phase. The diffuse
scattering intensity increases monotonically upon cooling in zero field, while
the rate of increase varies dramatically around different Bragg peaks. These
results can be explained by assuming that corresponding changes occur in the
ratio of the optic and acoustic components of the atomic displacements within
the PNR. Cooling in the presence of a modest electric field oriented
along the [111] direction alters the shape of diffuse scattering in reciprocal
space, but does not eliminate the scattering as would be expected in the case
of a classic ferroelectric material. This suggests that a field-induced
redistribution of the PNR has taken place
Anomalous transverse acoustic phonon broadening in the relaxor ferroelectric Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O_3
The intrinsic linewidth of the transverse acoustic (TA) phonon
observed in the relaxor ferroelectric compound
Pb(MgNbTiO (PMN-20%PT) begins to broaden
with decreasing temperature around 650 K, nearly 300 K above the ferroelectric
transition temperature ( K). We speculate that this anomalous
behavior is directly related to the condensation of polarized, nanometer-sized,
regions at the Burns temperature . We also observe the ``waterfall''
anomaly previously seen in pure PMN, in which the transverse optic (TO) branch
appears to drop precipitously into the TA branch at a finite momentum transfer
\AA. The waterfall feature is seen even at
temperatures above . This latter result suggests that the PNR exist as
dynamic entities above .Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
- …