Damping Constant (Linewidth) and the Relaxation Time of the Brillouin LA Mode for the Ferroelectric-Paraelectric Transition in PbZr1-xTixO3

Abstract

The damping constant (linewidth) of the longitudinal acoustic (LA) mode is calculated as a function of temperature using the observed Brillouin frequencies of this mode from the literature for the ferroelectric-paraelectric transition (T-C = 657 K) in PbZr1-xTixO3 (x = 0.45). For this calculation of the damping constant, the pseudospin-phonon coupled model and the energy fluctuation model are used by fitting to the observed data for the Brillouin frequencies of the LA mode in the ferroelectric (T < T-C) and paraelectric (T > T-C) phases of this compound (x = 0.45). Values of the activation energy are deduced for both ferroelectric and paraelectric phases. The relaxation time is also obtained by means of fitting to the observed data from the literature for the inverse relaxation time at various temperatures in the paraelectric phase of PbZr1-xTixO3. The temperature dependences of the damping constant and of the relaxation time with the values of the activation energy that we have calculated indicate that the pseudospin-phonon coupled model and the energy fluctuation model are capable of describing the ferroelectric-paraelectric transition (T-C = 657 K) in PbZr1-xTixO3 (x = 0.45) adequately.