Evolution of the neutron quasi-elastic scattering through the ferroelectric phase transition in 93%PbZn$_{1/3}$Nb$_{2/3}$O$_3$ - 7% PbTiO$_3$

TL;DR

This study investigates neutron diffuse scattering in a relaxor ferroelectric compound, revealing two components with distinct temperature behaviors that relate to the ferroelectric phase transition.

Contribution

It identifies a previously unreported quasi-elastic component in neutron scattering, linking its temperature dependence to the ferroelectric transition.

Findings

Elastic component grows below 600 K

Quasi-elastic component peaks at transition temperature

Line-width of quasi-elastic scattering correlates with Brillouin spectroscopy

Abstract

We show that the neutron diffuse scattering in relaxor ferroelectric (1-x)PbZn$_{1/3}$Nb$_{2/3}$O$_{3}$ - x PbTiO$_{3}$ (x=0.07) consists of two components. The first component is strictly elastic but extended in q-space and grows below 600 K. The second component, that was not reported before for the (1-x)PbZn$_{1/3}$Nb$_{2/3}$O$_{3}$ - x PbTiO$_{3}$ (x=0.07) relaxor ferroelectrics, is quasi-elastic with a line-width that has a similar temperature dependence as the width of the central peak observed by Brillouin spectroscopy. The temperature dependence of the susceptibility of the quasi-elastic scattering has a maximum at the ferroelectric transition.