Abstract
A model of relaxor ferroelectrics based on the interacting polar clusters picture has been formulated. The electric dipole moment of a nanosized polar domain is allowed a large number of discrete orientations and its length is assumed to fluctuate in a broad interval. Introducing a set of quasicontinuous order parameter fields and imposing a global spherical constraint, the spherical random-bond–random-field (SRBRF) model is written down and its static properties are investigated. It is found that for weak random fields the scaled third-order nonlinear susceptibility shows a nearly divergent behavior in the spherical glass phase, but there is no such anomaly in a random-field frustrated ferroelectric state. The probability distribution of local cluster polarization is calculated and its relation to the quadrupole perturbed NMR line shape of in PMN is discussed. The fact that the observed line shape is Gaussian at all temperatures provides strong support to the SRBRF model.
- Received 10 June 1999
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.60.13470
©1999 American Physical Society