Structural phase transitions in partially deuterated betaine phosphite crystals studied by dielectric and electron paramagnetic resonance methods

Abstract

Abstract Partially deuterated betaine phosphite (DBPI) crystals were investigated by measurements of the dielectric constant and by means of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Two phase transitions could be detected in the temperature range from 100 K to 380 K: a high-temperature phase transition at Tc1 = (355 ± 3) K and a ferroelectric phase transition at Tc2 = (297 ± 3) K. The EPR studies show that the ferroelectric phase transition is related to the simultaneous ordering of the protons and deuterons in the O-H/D… O bonds.