Crossover in a non-analytical behaviour of dielectric non-linearity in PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3 relaxor ferroelectric

The dielectric response of the relaxer ferroelectric PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3 (PMN) is found to be a non-analytical function of the ac field, with the absolute value of the non-linear component of the polarization given by \P-nl\ alpha E-m(gamma(omega,T)). The dependence on the temperature, T, and frequency, omega, of the exponent gamma manifests itself in the form of a crossover in gamma(T) from approximately 2 to 3 upon cooling, whose position depends upon the frequency of the applied ac held. From the comparison of y(w, T) with the linear complex dielectric permittivity, epsilon(l)* (omega, T), of PMN, the following can be correlated: (i) gamma approximate to 2 in the regime of the quasi-static response, and y starts deviating from 2 simultaneously with the onset of the frequency dispersion; and (ii) gamma approximate to 3 when the spectrum of relaxation times in PMN becomes flat. These findings can be understood in terms of the change in the type of the motion of the interphase boundaries of the microscopic polar regions existing in PMN, namely in the change of the scale on which the interphase boundaries can move.