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The ferroelectric properties of disorder Pb(Zr$_{0.5}$Ti$_{0.5}$)O$_{3}$ thin films are investigated with Monte Carlo simulations on the basis of a first-principles-derived Hamitonian. It is found that there exists a critical thickness of about three unit cells ($\sim$12 \AA) below which the ferroelectricity disappears under the condition that the in-plane polarizations are suppressed by sufficient clamping effect. Above the critical thickness, periodic $180^{\circ}$ stripe domains with out-of-plane polarizations are formed in the systems in order to minimize the energy of the depolarizaing field. The stripe period increases with increasing film thickness. The microscopic mechanism responsible for these phenomena is discussed., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

Polarization hysteresis loops, x-ray diffraction (XRD) and temperature dependent dielectric constant under different electric fields for <110> oriented 0.7 Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.3PbTiO3 single crystals were measured. The field-induced phase transition and the process of depolarization were discussed. The results show that with the electric field increasing, the crystal form changes along via polar-axis reorientation and polarization rotation. However, the depolarization process is not just the reversal of the polarization process. It is noticed that just from the temperature dependent dielectric behavior is not enough to judge the processes of the E-field induced phase transition., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures

<001> oriented 0.7Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.3PbTiO3 single crystals were poled under different electric fields, i.e. Epoling=4 kV/cm and Epoling=13 kV/cm. In addition to the temperature-dependent dielectric constant measurement, X-ray diffraction was also used to identify the poling-induced phase transitions. Results showed that the phase transition significantly depends on the poling intensity. A weaker field (Epoling=4 kV/cm) can overcome the effect of random internal field to perform the phase transition from rhombohedral ferroelectric state with short range ordering (microdomain) FESRO to rhombohedral ferroelectric state with long range ordering (macrodomain) FElRO. But the rhombohedral ferroelectric to tetragonal ferroelectric phase transition originating from <111> to <001> polarization rotation can only be induced by a stronger field (Epoling=13 kV/cm). The sample poled at Epoling=4 kV/cm showed higher piezoelectric constant, d33>1500 pC/N, than the sample poled at Epoling=13 kV/cm., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures

A Landau-type phenomenological cluster theory was presented to model the freezing process of local polarization in relaxors. Based on the theory, the proportion of frozen polarization in Pb(Mg$_{1/3}$Nb$_{2/3}$)O$_3$-PbTiO$_3$ (PMNT) was calculated from the experiment of dielectric nonlinearity. The local polarization was shown to freeze continuously in a cooling process. The amount of frozen polarization increases with increasing the measuring frequency., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures

The soft modes in the two- and eight-direction order-disorder ferroelectrics are calculated under the mean-field approximation. We find that the conventional method of the pseudospin model to calculate the soft-mode frequency is incorrect, and present a valid modified method. It is demonstrated that the conventional method does not show the soft-mode frequency going to zero at a critical temperature in the presence of random internal fields, while the frequency calculated by our modified method goes to zero in random fields at a critical temperature. In the eight-direction ferroelectrics, the soft-mode frequency decreases to zero at the first-order phase transition temperature though the symmetry has been destroyed at high temperatures under an external field. The promotion effect of random fields on the phase transition is testified by the calculation results of the soft modes in the paraelectric phase., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, resubmitted to Phys. Rev. B, revised version according to the referee report

We propose a mechanism of stochastic resonance induced by spatial noise (electric random fields) in ferroelectrics. The calculations demonstrate the characteristic of the stochastic resonance: certain random field can increase the susceptibility, the phonon occupancy, and the overcooled temperature. This mechanics of stochastic resonance may be general in other disordered systems., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures

An eight-potential-well order-disorder ferroelectric model was presented and the phase transition was studied under the mean-field approximation. It was shown that the two-body interactions are able to account for the first-order and the second order phase transitions. With increasing the random fields in the system, a first-order phase transition is transformed into a second-order phase transition, and furthermore, a second-order phase transition is inhibited. However, proper random fields can promote the spontaneous appearance of a first-order phase transition by increasing the overcooled temperature. The connections of the model with relaxors were discussed., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Applied Physics Letters

The thermally activated flips of the local spontaneous polarization in relaxors were simulated to investigate the effects of the applied-ac-field amplitude on the dielectric susceptibility. It was observed that the susceptibility increases with increasing the amplitude at low temperatures. At high temperatures, the susceptibility experiences a plateau and then drops. The maximum in the temperature dependence of susceptibility shifts to lower temperatures when the amplitude increases. A similarity was found between the effects of the amplitude and frequency on the susceptibility., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, Phys. Rev. B (in July 1st)

The atomic ordering in complex perovskite alloys is investigated by the cluster variation method (CVM). For the 1/3\{111\}-type ordered structure, the order-disorder phase transition is the first order, and the order parameter of the 1:2 complex perovskite reaches its maximum near x=0.25. For the 1/2\{111\}-type ordered structure, the ordering transition is the second order. Phase diagrams for both ordered structures are obtained. The order-disorder line obeys the linear law., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

Dielectric nonlinear response of (PbMg$_{1/3}$Nb$_{2/3}$O$_3$)$_{0.9}$(PbTiO$_3$)$_{0.1}$ (0.9PMN-0.1PT) relaxor ceramics was investigated under different ac drive voltages. It was observed that: (i) the dielectric permittivity is independent on ac field amplitude at high temperatures; (ii) with increasing ac drive, the permittivity maximum increases, and the temperature of the maximum shifts to lower temperature; (iii) the nonlinear effect is weakened when the measurement frequency increases. The influences of increasing ac drive were found to be similar to that of decreasing frequency. It is believed that the dielectric nonlinearities of relaxors at low drives can be explained by the phase transition theory of ergodic space shrinking in succession. A Monte Carlo simulation was performed on the flips of micro polarizations at low ac drives to verify the theory., Comment: Submitted to J. Phys.: Cond. Matter