Specific-heat anomaly caused by ferroelectric nanoregions in Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))O3 and Pb(Mg(1/3)Ta(2/3))O3 relaxors.

The specific heat of typical relaxors, Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))O3 (PMN) and Pb(Mg(1/3)Ta(2/3))O3 (PMT), was measured by adiabatic and relaxation methods between 2 and 420 K. A broad anomaly was found in the specific heat curve over the wide temperature range between 150 and 500 K for PMN, and between 50 and 400 K for PMT, which provides evidence for the formation of ferroelectric nanoregions (FNR) in the paraelectric matrix. The entropy of the anomaly was estimated as 3.3 J K(-1) mol(-1) and 2.9 J K(-1) mol(-1) for PMN and PMT, respectively, which implies an order-disorder-type mechanism for the formation of FNR.