Ultrasound studies of phase transitions in tungsten bronze ferroelectric materials

Attenuation and velocity measurements at ultrasonic frequencies were performed in two ferroelectric solid solutions with tungsten bronze structure type, SBN and PBN, as a function of temperature (from 200 to 380 K). Both materials, in polycrystalline form, presented sensitive changes in the temperature dependence curves of attenuation and velocity. One of these anomalies (at 350 K for SBN and 323 K for PBN) was associated with a second-order phase transition, confirming the ferroelectric orthorhombic–ferroelectric tetragonal phase transition suggested for both systems in this temperature range.