Ultraslow dynamics near structural phase transitions

Abstract

The subject of ultralow-frequency dynamics, i.e. the so called ‘Central-Peak’ (CP)-phenomena were intensively investigated 20 years ago. It is well established that this CP includes a whole class of phenomena caused by crystal defects (strains, dislocations, impurities, etc.) or by intrinsic dynamics (precursor cluster, domains, entropy fluctuations, etc.). Here we show on some examples, that one can contribute to this question using low frequency elastic measurements. We present new results on very slow (τ ≈ 0.1s) elastic relaxations near the order-disorder phase transitions of KSCN and C60. The data can be well explained by a model which is based on the assumption of temperature (entropy) fluctuations.

Publication
Ferroelectrics 183, 115 - 121