192 research outputs found
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
Interplay between static and dynamic polar correlations in relaxor Pb(Mg_{1/3}Nb_{2/3})O_{3}
We have characterized the dynamics of the polar nanoregions in
Pb(MgNb)O (PMN) through high-resolution neutron
backscattering and spin-echo measurements of the diffuse scattering cross
section. We find that the diffuse scattering intensity consists of \emph{both}
static and dynamic components. The static component first appears at the Curie
temperature K, while the dynamic component freezes completely
at the temperature T K; together, these components account for
all of the observed spectral weight contributing to the diffuse scattering
cross section. The integrated intensity of the dynamic component peaks near the
temperature at which the frequency-dependent dielectric constant reaches a
maximum (T) when measured at 1 GHz, i. e. on a timescale of
ns. Our neutron scattering results can thus be directly related to dielectric
and infra-red measurements of the polar nanoregions. Finally, the global
temperature dependence of the diffuse scattering can be understood in terms of
just two temperature scales, which is consistent with random field models.Comment: (8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B
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
Two-step phase changes in cubic relaxor ferroelectrics
The field-driven conversion between the zero-field-cooled frozen relaxor
state and a ferroelectric state of several cubic relaxors is found to occur in
at least two distinct steps, after a period of creep, as a function of time.
The relaxation of this state back to a relaxor state under warming in zero
field also occurs via two or more sharp steps, in contrast to a one-step
relaxation of the ferroelectric state formed by field-cooling. An intermediate
state can be trapped by interrupting the polarization. Giant pyroelectric noise
appears in some of the non-equilibrium regimes. It is suggested that two
coupled types of order, one ferroelectric and the other glassy, may be required
to account for these data.Comment: 27 pages with 8 figures to appear in Phys. Rev.
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
Direct evidence of soft mode behavior near the Burns' temperature in PbMgNbO (PMN) relaxor ferroectric
Inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the relaxor ferroelectric
PbMgNbO (PMN) in the temperature range
490~KT880~K directly observe the soft mode (SM) associated with the
Curie-Weiss behavior of the dielectric constant (T). The results
are treated within the framework of the coupled SM and transverse optic (TO1)
mode and the temperature dependence of the SM frequency at q=0.075 a* is
determined. The parameters of the SM are consistent with the earlier estimates
and the frequency exhibits a minimum near the Burns temperature (
650K)Comment: 6 figure
Neutron scattering study of PbMgTaO and BaMgTaO complex perovskites
Neutron scattering investigations were carried out in
PbMgTaO and BaMgTaO complex
perovskites. The crystal structure of both compounds does not show any phase
transition in the temperature range 1.5 -- 730 K. Whereas the temperature
dependence of the lattice parameter of BaMgTaO follows the
classical expectations, the lattice parameter of relaxor ferroelectric
PbMgTaO exhibits anomalies. One of these anomalies is
observed in the same temperature range as the peak in the dielectric
susceptibility. We find that in PbMgTaO, lead ions are
displaced from the ideal positions in the perovskite structure at all
temperatures. Consequently short-range order is present. This induces strong
diffuse scattering with an anisotropic shape in wavevector space. The
temperature dependences of the diffuse neutron scattering intensity and of the
amplitude of the lead displacements are similar
Temperature independent diffuse scattering and elastic lattice deformations in relaxor PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3
The results of diffuse neutron scattering experiment on PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3 single
crystal above the Burns temperature are reported. It is shown that the high
temperature elastic diffuse component is highly anisotropic in low-symmetry
Brillouin zones and this anisotropy can be described using Huang scattering
formalism assuming that the scattering originates from mesoscopic lattice
deformations due to elastic defects. The qualitative agreement between this
model and the experimental data is achieved with simple isotropic defects. It
is demonstrated that weak satellite maxima near the Bragg reflections can be
interpreted as the finite resolution effect.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
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