Crystalline ferroelectrics with glassy polarization behavior

Abstract

We report measurements of the optic index of refraction as a function of temperature, $n (T)$, in the crystalline ferroelectrics having the simple perovskite ($\mathrm{AB}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$) structure. We show that these crystals possess a local, randomly oriented, nonreversible polarization below a temperature ${T}_{d}$ several hundred degrees above the ferroelectric phase-transition temperature ${T}_{c}$. Using a simple model, we account for this behavior and understand quantitatively the values of ${T}_{d}$. This model, we believe, contains the basic physical understanding of ferroelectrics with a diffuse phase transition.