Nonlinear susceptibilities and polydispersivity in dipolar glasses

Abstract

The dipolar glass system D-BP₄₀BPI₆₀ was investigated using broadband dielectric spectroscopy over 12 decades in frequency and temperatures between 4K < T < 300 K. The complex dielectric constant reveals increasing polydispersivity with decreasing temperatures. However, no criticality can be detected in the linear components of the susceptibility: the distribution of relaxation times, as well as the mean relaxation time become infinite at T = 0 only. The nonlinear susceptibility was followed over 4 decades of frequency. Again the mean relaxation times follow a pure Arrhenius-type behavior. However, from the extrapolation of the quasistatic nonlinear susceptibility a glass transition temperature of 30 K can be deduced in reasonable agreement with the AlmeidaThouless line determined from measurements of the FC/ZFC-susceptibilities. The frequency dependence of the real and imaginary parts of the third-order susceptibility cannot be described using simple extensions from Cole-Cole or Havriliak-Negami functions.

Key Words:

• Dipolar glasses
• Ferroelectrics
• Nonlinear susceptibility
• Dielectric spectroscopy