Local structure analysis of NaNbO

Yoneda, Yasuhiro   ; Fu, D.*; Kohara, Shinji*

NaNbO has an antiferroelectric structure at room temperature and finds important technological applications. It exhibits an unusual complex sequence of temperature- and pressure-driven structural phase transitions. NaNbO shows unambiguous evidence for the presence of the ferroelectric phase coexisting with an antiferroelectric phase () over a wide range of temperatures. We have carried out atomic pair-distribution function (PDF) analysis on NaNbO to understand the phase transitions. High-energy X-ray PDF using powder samples were carried out at the SPring-8, which is provided to become rhombohedral structure if -site atoms did order and to become antiferroelectric phase if -site atoms did disorder.