Pyroelectric Effect in Gadolinium Molybdate (Gmo)

Measurements of pyroelectric currents in GMO show two major discontinuities in the vicinity of the 159°C phase transition, separated by about 2°K, whose locations do not depend on the heating rate. Applied electric fields neither shift nor broaden these peaks but do enhance the upper 'peak at the expense of the lower one until, at fields of the order of 5,000 v/cm, only the upper peak remains. A tentative explanation of this behavior is offered, based on recent studies of the structure and possible polarization and switching mechanisms in GMO.