Crystal growth and hysteresis phenomena of rubidium tetrachlorozincate Rb2ZnCl4

Abstract Phase transitions in Rb2ZnCl4 crystals grown by various methods are examined with differential scanning calorimetry and dielectric measurements. For most of the studied samples the permittivity along the ferroelectric axis shows a large thermal hysteresis over a wide temperature range including the incommensurate phase and the lock-in point. This hysteresis depends on the presence of different defects which appear during crystal growth or after a thermal and mechanical treatment. It is shown that dielectric measurements are quite well suited to characterize the crystals exhibiting on incommensurate phase and a ferroelectric phase.