Calorimetric study of multiaxial fluctuations in ferroelectric BaTiO3 in nonpolar cubic phase

TL;DR

This study measures the specific heat of BaTiO3 crystals, revealing fluctuation contributions in the paraelectric phase consistent with Levanyuk's theory, marking the first such observation.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental observation of fluctuation contributions to specific heat in multiaxial ferroelectrics above the phase transition.

Findings

Excess specific heat shows fluctuation behavior.

Temperature dependence aligns with Levanyuk's theoretical predictions.

First direct observation of fluctuation contribution in this context.

Abstract

Precise specific heat of barium titanate single crystals of different quality has been measured with special attention to the temperature region above the ferroelectric phase transition. It is shown that excess specific heat of the multiaxial barium titanate in the paraelectric phase has a fluctuation nature and its temperature dependence is in accordance with the theoretical predictions of Levanyuk theory for multiaxial ferroelectrics. In this study the first observation of fluctuation contribution to the specific heat is presented.