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Abstract
A simple mechanism for the freezing of polar nanoregions (PNRs) in relaxor ferroelectrics is presented. Using the local thermodynamic stability criterion for the polarizable medium in which the PNRs are embedded, the growth of the PNR correlation radius with decreasing temperature is derived. At the percolation threshold T p an infinite cluster of PNRs is formed, and the relaxation time for its reorientation is shown to obey the Vogel-Fulcher (VF) relation, with T p playing the role of the freezing or VF temperature. The effects of freezing on the dielectric permittivity are briefly discusssed.