Correlations between Elastic, Calorimetric, and Polar Properties of Ferroelectric PbSc0.5Ta0.5O3 (PST)

Abstract

Calorimetric, elastic, and polar properties of ferrolectric lead scandium tantalate PbSc0.5Ta0.5O3 (PST) with 65% cation order have been investigated in the vicinity of the paraelectric-ferroelectric transition at Ttrans = 295K. Comparison of temperature dependencies of the excess specific heat and elastic properties indicate that both anomalies stem from ther- mal fluctuations of order parameters in three dimensions. These fluctuations are consistent with tweed microstructure. This transition is driven by several coupled thermodynamic order parameters, as evidenced by a strongly non-linear scaling of the excess entropy with the squared ferroelectric polarization.