A new order parameter model for the improper ferroelastic phase transitions in KMnF single crystal.

This paper proposes a new order parameter model which satisfactorily explains complicated symmetry changes, the temperature-pressure (T-P) phase diagram and elastic anomalies observed experimentally with the improper ferroelastic phase transitions in multiferroic KMnF single crystal. First, it is shown that the order parameter model is transformed according to the four-dimensional reducible representation of the wavevector star channel group. Second, based on the order parameter model and the singularity theory, the sixth-order structurally stable Landau potential model is constructed.

The wavevector substar group in reciprocal space and its representation.

A new concept of the wavevector substar group is established which, in the study of translational symmetry breaking of a crystal, only considers the particular arms of the wavevector star taking part in the phase transition; this is in contrast with the traditional Landau theory which considers all of the arms of the wavevector star. It is shown that this new concept can be used effectively to investigate the interesting physical properties of crystals associated with translational symmetry breaking. It is shown that studies on complicated phase transitions related to reducible representations, such as those in perovskite KMnF multiferroics and the high-temperature superconductor LaMgWO (LaMgWO), are much simplified by the new concept.