Low energy phonon spectrum and its parameterization in pure KTaO3 under 80 K

Abstract

High resolution data on low energy phonon branches (acoustic and soft optic) along the three principal symmetry axes in pure KTaO3 were obtained by cold neutron inelastic scattering between 10 and 80 K. Additional off-principal axis measurements were performed to characterize the dispersion anisotropy (away from the <100> and <110> axes). The parameters of the phenomenological model proposed by Vaks are refined in order to successfully describe the experimental low temperature (10 < T < 100 K) dispersion curves, over an appreciable reciprocal space volume around the zone center (|q| < 0.25 rlu). The refined model, which involves only 4 temperature-independent adjustable parameters, is intended to serve as a basis for quantitative computations of multiphonon processes.