Prediction of new displacive ferroelectrics through systematic pseudosymmetry search. Results for materials with Pba2 and Pmc21 symmetry.

Abstract

Polar structures with pseudosymmetry related to a hypothetical non-polar configuration are considered as good candidates for ferroelectrics. Recently, a procedure has been developed for a systematic pseudosymmetry search among structures with a given space-group symmetry. The aim of this paper is the extension of the pseudosymmetry procedure to the case of structures with polar symmetry and its application in the search for new ferroelectrics. The results obtained by the generalized pseudosymmetry search among the compounds with symmetries Pba2 and Pmc2(1) listed in the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database are discussed. The calculations have been performed by the program PSEUDO, which forms part of the Bilbao Crystallographic Server (http://www.cryst.ehu.es). In addition, an empirical relation between the atomic displacements necessary to reach the non-polar structure and the transition temperature is proposed and compared with the Abrahams-Kurtz-Jamieson relation.