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

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

The Effects of Hypoxia on Sensory Cells of the Cochlea in Chinchilla

The effects of hypoxia on the sensory epithelium of the cochlea were investigated in the chinchilla. Systemic hypoxia was produced by increasing the dead space of the respiratory tidal volume. A disarrangement of hair-cell stereocilia, and cytoplasmic protrusions from sensory cells are the main findings in cochleas from hypoxic animals; these changes take place firstly at the inner hair-cells then, with the increase in degree of hypoxia, at the outer hair-cells. These degenerative changes of sensory cells correlate well with both respiratory suppression and with the elevation of auditory threshold to click stimulation as monitored using the compound action potential recording from the cochlear nerve. The latter measure appears to be a useful indicator of cochlear hypoxia. Our morphological findings are similar to other studies including those which have reported on post-mortem cochlear hair-cell degeneration. Our studies indicate the deleterious effects of long term hypoxia on cochlear mechanisms and point to the need for careful monitoring of cardiovascular and respiratory functions in animals under anaesthesia for physiological studies of the auditory system