Eur. Phys. J. B (2014) 87: 158
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2014-50197-x

Regular Article

Multivariate pressure effects on an electron hopping process in ferroelectric KTa_1−xNb_xO₃

¹ The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat Ram, 91904 Jerusalem, Israel
² Institute of Physics, Silesian University, Bankowa 12, 40-007 Katowice, Poland

^a e-mail: paul.benishai@mail.huji.ac.il

Received: 24 March 2014
Published online: 23 July 2014

Abstract

The effect induced by the presence of a polaron related relaxation process on the dielectric properties of a ferroelectric KTa_1−xNb_xO₃ (KTN) crystal was investigated (10^-2−10⁶ Hz, at 300−375 K) using broadband dielectric spectroscopy. Characterization of the process using just the standard frequency domain dielectric parameters can nonetheless provide penetrating insight into its nature and origins. The three parameters, namely: relaxation time (τ), Cole-Cole loss broadening (α), and dielectric strength (Δϵ) provide each one in its own way, much useful and often overlooked information. The Activation Energy along with the Meyer-Neldel dependance, both extracted from τ serve to illuminate the dynamic properties. At the same time, α and especially the combined α(lnτ) relationship, expose the fractal structure of the underlying landscape. Finally, the static parameter Δϵ, enables quantification of the dipolar correlations. Hydrostatic pressure (up to 7.5 kbar) was applied to gently perturb the system and observe the outcome on all of the various parameters. This additional degree of freedom allows for a much more comprehensive exploration of the phase space behavior of the system.