Abstract
Quantum-paraelectric (QP) family character is emergent from shared low-temperature characteristics of SrCu3Ti4O12 (SCTO), CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO), and Ca0.9Li0.1Cu3Ti4O12 (CLCTO) A1/4A′3/4BO3 structures featuring antiferro-tilted Ti-O6 octahedra. Above their magnetic ordering temperatures TN, permittivity of SCTO and CLCTO follow typical Barrett form, whereas in CCTO, quantum paraelectricity is masked by the huge ε′-step. Hidden QP in CCTO gets revealed by Li-doping at the Ca-site, which considerably up-shifts the temperature scale (from ∼100 K to ∼250 K) of the dielectric step-anomaly in CLCTO. Competing magneto-electricity and quantum fluctuations result in glassy-arrest of the QP degrees of freedom near TN; manifest as dispersive-deviation of the permittivity (in SCTO and CLCTO) from the low-temperature Barrett saturation. However, quantum criticality (QC) regime being well above TN registers its presence nevertheless, as the ∼T2 behaviour of their inverse dielectric susceptibility. Non-compliance to the usual behaviours of dispersive-response vs. bias-field and temperature unambiguously rule out a relaxor origin of the glassy state. We determine a dimensionless thermal window (0.3 ≤ T/T1 ≤ 0.6) of QC signature, covering typical quantum-paraelectrics.
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