Relaxor as heterophase fluctuation

A neutron diffuse scattering experiment on the relaxor ferroelectric PZN(PbZn1/3Nb2/3O3) has been carried out. The diffuse scatterings show strongly anisotropic distributions around the reciprocal lattice points; whose patterns change drastically depending on the index of the reciprocal lattice point. These experimental results are analyzed based on the G-L type free energy functional including electrostrictive energy. It is verified that the observed diffuse scattering is due to the strain field produced by polar micro clusters which are characterized as the heterophase fluctuations of polarization.