Determination of elastic stiffness coefficients of lead zirconate single crystals in the cubic phase by Brillouin light scattering

Abstract

The temperature dependence of the three independent elastic constants of antiferroelectric lead zirconate single crystals was determined in the cubic, paraelectric phase by Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy. Two longitudinal elastic moduli of C11 and (C11 + C12+2 C 44)/2 showed softening upon cooling toward the phase transition temperature, indicating the coupling of the acoustic waves to the polarization fluctuations of the precursor polar clusters. Among the two transverse acoustic modes, C44 was almost constant while (C11-C 12)/2 showed a noticeable softening in the paraelectric phase. This was attributed to the acoustic instability of lead zirconate toward the orthorhombic ground state.