Abstract
The temperature dependence of the hexagonal c unit cell parameter of high-purity NaNO3 shows an anomaly at 553 K corresponding to the orientational ordering transition. The a unit cell parameter is barely influenced by the transition. The single component spontaneous strain for this zone boundary instability is large (∼55×10−3 at 295 K), and couples quadratically with the order parameter. The critical exponent β is found to have the value 0.22 ± 0.01, which differs from that expected in the classical case. Below ca 450 K, crossover to tricritical behaviour is observed (β=1/4). The temperature evolution of the macroscopic order parameter as revealed by the temperature dependence of the spontaneous strain follows a tricritical behaviour between 70 K and 450 K. At temperatures below 70 K order parameter saturation is observed. Combined with recent data from specific heat measurements, the critical exponents suggest that the three-dimensional, three-states Potts model may describe the transition.
Precursor spontaneous strain above T c is consistent with local ordering and may result from fluctuations associated with an antiordered NO3 group pair configuration.
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Permanent address: Department of Earth and Space Sciences, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
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Reeder, R.J., Redfern, S.A.T. & Salje, E. Spontaneous strain at the structural phase transition in NaNO3 . Phys Chem Minerals 15, 605–611 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00311033
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00311033