Formation of Order of Cesium Dihydrogen Phosphate in a Depolarization Field

Abstract

The antiparallel domains of cesium dihydrogen phosphate form a prefractal domain structure periodic along the wall normal in the presence of a depolarization field. We have observed the self-similarity of the domain structure and found that the domain walls are along the (801) plane. This indicates that the periodic lamellar domain structure is born of a transverse component of the polarization fluctuation. The component has a wave vector normal to the (801) plane. The periodic domain structure can acquire a fractal character while the electrostatic and the domain wall energies repeatedly compete with each other. The integration of the spontaneous polarization over the whole crystal conserves the value of zero in the formation of order.