The lifetime of the “ferroelectric” phonon in some perovskite crystals at low temperatures

The lifetime of a low-lying transverse optic phonon with the wave vectork=0 (ferroelectric phonon) in perovskite crystals having the Curie point at low temperatures is investigated. Using a phenomenological Hamiltonian it is shown that mainly the process, in which the ferroelectric phonon and the transverse acoustic phonon are destroyed in order to create another optic phonon from the same branch, determines the lifetime of a ferroelectric phonon. The general result is specialized for SrTiO₃, and the temperature dependence of, exhibiting anomalies in comparison with normal ionic crystals, is discussed.The author thanks Dr. M. Marvan of the Physical Faculty of Charles University in Prague and Dr. P. Glogar and Dr. M. Trlifaj of the Institute of Physics, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, in Prague for valuable remarks.