Peculiarities of Ferro-Antiferroelectric Phase Transitions 9. Alternative for dipole-glass description of properties of substances with coexisting ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases

TL;DR

This paper argues that substances with coexisting ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases can exhibit properties similar to dipole glasses, emphasizing the need for careful interpretation of experimental data due to their unique phase transition behaviors.

Contribution

It introduces an alternative explanation for dipole-glass-like properties in substances with nearly degenerate ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases, challenging the conventional glass interpretation.

Findings

Long-time relaxation of physical properties is observed.

Frequency dependence of dielectric and magnetic characteristics is significant.

Phase coexistence can mimic dipole-glass behavior.

Abstract

It is demonstrated that the substances with small difference in the free energies of the ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases possess a set of properties characteristic for the so-called "dipole glasses". Possible phase diagrams of the substances that can be misguidedly attributed to glasses are discussed. Main attention has been paid to the process of long-time relaxation of physical characteristics of these compounds after their state of thermodynamic equilibrium was disturbed by external influences. The long-time relaxation along with the pronounced frequency dependence of parameters (for example, dependence of dielectric or magnetic characteristics on the frequency of measuring field) is considered as main features due to which these systems are classified as dipole glasses. Our main purpose is to call attention to the fact that one has to be cautious during the interpretation of experimental results in substances with inhomogeneous states of coexisting domains of ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases.