Abstract
The origin of the relaxor behavior in K1−xLixTaO3 (KLT) and other disordered perovskites is now recognized
to be due to the reorientation of the polar nanodomains formed by the correlated dipoles of off-center ions.
The collective dynamics of these systems evolve through several temperature stages. On decreasing temperature
below the so-called Burns temperature TB, individual dipoles become correlated within nanosized regions. On
further cooling, the slow dynamics of these polar regions allows local lattice distortions to take place and the
formation of polar nanodomains at T ∗ < TB. At still lower temperature, some relaxors undergo a phase transition
while others do not. In KLT, there is a critical Li concentration xc = 0.022 above which the system undergoes a
structural transition at Tc, and below which it freezes in a dipole glass state at Tf . To better understand the nature
of this critical concentration, the changes that occur upon crossing it and the nature of the dipole glass state,
the collective dynamics of KLT have been studied by dielectric spectroscopy and neutron diffraction for two Li
concentrations (x = 0.026 and 0.018), close to but straddling the critical concentration xc. Two very different
transitional behaviors are observed. Just below this critical concentration, KLT displays critical slowing down and the onset of freezing as seen in hydrogen-bonded molecular ferroelectrics, while just above this concentration, KLT undergoes a first-order structural transition.