Study of crystal structure and of dynamic behaviour in the various phases of TlD2PO4

TlH2PO4 (TDP) and its deuterated form TlD2PO4 (DTDP) belong to the family of ferroelectric materials of KH2PO4 (KDP). The compounds of this family, on deuteration, show a large isotopic effect in their ferroelectric transition temperatures. This work begins with a review of theoretical models which allowed a better understanding of the antiferroelectric transition. The crystal structures of TDP and DTDP have been studied at different temperatures, using single-crystal neutron diffraction and the results show that the phase diagrams for both compounds have very different characteristics. The dynamics of antiferroelectric transition of DTDP has been investigated by means of neutron inelastic scattering. Supported by these experimental results we propose a mechanism to explain the different phase sequences in these compounds. In the last part of this work a more qualitative study suggests that the effect of deuteration could be seen as a pressure effect. This result has to be confirmed by using a more appropriate means of investigation than neutron scattering. (A.C.)