Mesoscopic fluctuating domains in strontium titanate

被引：21

作者：

Fauque, Benoit ^{[1
]}

Bourges, Philippe ^{[2
]}

Subedi, Alaska ^{[3
]}

Behnia, Kamran ^{[4
]}

Baptiste, Benoit ^{[5
]}

Roessli, Bertrand ^{[6
]}

Fennell, Tom ^{[6
]}

Raymond, Stephane ^{[7
]}

Steffens, Paul ^{[8
]}

机构：

[1] PSL Res Univ, Coll France, USR 3573 CNRS, JEIP, 11 Pl Marcelin Berthelot, F-75231 Paris 05, France

[2] Univ Paris Saclay, CEA Saclay, CEA CNRS, Lab Leon Brillouin, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France

[3] IP Paris, Ecole Polytech, CNRS, CPHT, F-91128 Palaiseau, France

[4] PSL Res Univ, Sorbonne Univ, CNRS, ESPCI Paris,Lab Phys & Etud Mat, F-75005 Paris, France

[5] Sorbonne Univ, CNRS, IMPMC, 4 Pl Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France

[6] Paul Scherrer Inst, Lab Neutron Scattering & Imaging, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland

[7] Univ Grenoble Alpes, CEA, IRIG, MEM,MDN, F-38000 Grenoble, France

[8] Inst Laue Langevin, 71 Ave Martyrs, F-38042 Grenoble 9, France

来源：

PHYSICAL REVIEW B | 2022年 / 106卷 / 14期

关键词：

K PHASE-TRANSITION; ELASTIC ANOMALIES; SRTIO3; MODE; SCATTERING; PHONON;

D O I：

10.1103/PhysRevB.106.L140301

中图分类号：

T [工业技术];

学科分类号：

08 ;

摘要：

Spatial correlations between atoms can generate a depletion in the energy dispersion of acoustic phonons. Two well-known examples are rotons in superfluid helium and the Kohn anomaly in metals. Here we report on the observation of a large softening of the transverse acoustic mode in quantum paraelectric SrTiO3 by means of inelastic neutron scattering. In contrast to other known cases, this softening occurs at a tiny wave vector implying spatial correlation extending over a distance as long as 40 lattice parameters. We attribute this to the formation of mesoscopic fluctuating domains due to the coupling between local strain and ferroelectric fluctuations. Thus, a hallmark of the ground state of insulating SrTiO3 is the emergence of hybridized optical-acoustic phonons. Mesoscopic fluctuating domains may play a role in quantum tunneling, which impedes the emergence of a finite macroscopic polarization.

引用

页数：6

共 64 条

[1] Enhancing superconductivity in SrTiO3 films with strain [J].