Short Range Order in Polar S_A Phases through Dielectric Relaxation

Abstract

Using dielectric relaxation we investigated two S_A-S_A changes in binary polar systems. First, we studied a S_Aj-S_A2 phase transition for which the short range order observed through the relaxation does not suffer drastic change. We think that the distribution of relaxation times revealed in S_Ad phase must be connected to the particular property of this system which exhibits two different layering modulations. Secondly, we performed dielectric measurements along the gradual passage from S_A to S_As. In this latter case we conclude that the same thermodynamic S_A phase with only one layering modulation can possess two short range local orders.