Unconventional order-disorder phase transition in improper ferroelectric hexagonal manganites

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: Unconventional order-disorder phase transition in improper ferroelectric hexagonal manganites
المؤلفون: Skjærvø, Sandra H., Meier, Quintin, Feygenson, Mikhail, Spaldin, Nicola A., Billinge, Simon J. L., Bozin, Emil S., Selbach, Sverre M.
المصدر: Phys. Rev. X 9, 031001 (2019)
سنة النشر: 2017
المجموعة: Condensed Matter
مصطلحات موضوعية: Condensed Matter - Materials Science
الوصف: The improper ferroelectricity in YMnO$_3$ and other related multiferroic hexagonal manganites are known to cause topologically protected ferroelectric domains that give rise to rich and diverse physical phenomena. The local structure and structural coherence across the ferroelectric transition, however, were previously not well understood. Here we reveal the evolution of the local structure with temperature in YMnO$_3$ using neutron total scattering techniques, and interpret them with the help of first-principles calculations. The results show that, at room temperature, the local and average structures are consistent with the established ferroelectric $P6_3cm$ symmetry. On heating, both local and average structural analyses show striking anomalies from $\sim 800$ K up to the Curie temperature consistent with increasing fluctuations of the order parameter angle. These fluctuations result in an unusual local symmetry lowering into a \textit{continuum of structures} on heating. This local symmetry breaking persists into the high-symmetry non-polar phase, constituting an unconventional type of order-disorder transition.
Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures
نوع الوثيقة: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.9.031001
URL الوصول: http://arxiv.org/abs/1707.09649
رقم الأكسشن: edsarx.1707.09649
قاعدة البيانات: arXiv
الوصف
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevX.9.031001