Structure factor of a relaxor ferroelectric

Abstract

We study a minimal model for a relaxor ferroelectric including dipolar interactions and short-range harmonic and anharmonic forces for the critical modes as in the theory of pure ferroelectrics together with quenched disorder coupled linearly to the critical modes. We present the simplest approximate solution of the model necessary to obtain the principal features of the correlation functions. Specifically, we calculate and compare the structure factor measured by neutron scattering in different characteristic regimes of temperature in the relaxor Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3)/O 3.